Friday 19 Oct 2018

October 19: Acts 21:27-32

Key Verse: Acts 21:27
When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him

Devotion:
How many times have you seen people being stirred up in the name of a religion? We see it all the time nowadays on television where people are stirred into seemingly unlawful actions in the name of religion. Here the Jews from Asia stirred up the rest of the Jews to the extent where they all tried to get Paul, grabbing him and taking him outside the temple and then started beating him up. It seems a familiar sight to see crowds of people beating up another because of some difference in their views... a sad time we live in!

Paul used to be one of them. He used to be one of the men who were now beating him up. He used to be one who would stir up the crowds to beat up Christians and the like... just because they were saying something different to what they wanted to hear! We read our Old Testaments and we know we are looking at the same Law and scriptures that those Jews were trusting. We compare what happened in the days of Christ with various scripture references and we can clearly deduct Christ is our Saviour... Yet there are still people who continue to refuse to believe this one fact. There are other religions who will also say that Christ is not our Saviour but simply a prophet. And some extreme groups who will take that a step further and harm others just because they disagree!

What our bibles do not say is we should treat all other people who do not believe the same as we do as objects that we can beat up! What our bibles teach us is that we need to love others as we love ourselves and our God. We need to tell others of our God and the things He has done for all of us. Yet Jesus also tells us we need to make sure we are not a stumbling block against others, preventing them from coming to know Him. We need to lead by example, love and mercy, just as Jesus would want us to them a part of Him. Let us go forward in peace and love and not in vanity and strife.

Points to Ponder:
How often do you see others argue over religions?

How often do you show them God’s love through what you do?