Good day dear friends.
We continue our study of the myth that all religions are basically the same. Here is our study guide for today:
Thursday: Acts 17:16-34 shares an interesting story about Paul and his visit to Athens. Read this passage to find out more about what the Lord may be telling you about your faith. Paul never backed down from sharing the good news of Jesus and he learned how to utilize all sorts of ways to make the word of the Lord relevent to all.
Here is that passage (NIV): Acts 17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean." 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) 22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 `For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, `We are his offspring.' 29 "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." 32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
Oh for the boldness of Paul! This passage is powerful for it shows how God used Paul to share the good news even among those who considered themselves knowledgable in all things religious and spiritual. This visit to Athens takes Paul to the heart of place where people liked to argue and discuss about all matters. His initial visit to the synagogue isn't what he would have liked and so he goes to the marketplace to share there the gospel of Jesus. Some philosophers began to argue with him and notice their argument, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods!" If all religions are basically the same, why would this uproar have started? Paul goes on to share with them that he has seen an altar dedicated TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. The Athenians tried to cover all the bases by even putting, among the multitude of other idols to their gods, this altar to whichever god they might have overlooked. Paul took that as an opportunity to share our God. Read again the case Paul makes for God. This made some scoff at the idea of resurrection, but some wanted to know more again later. Yet, out of that sharing of his testimony about God, Paul walks away with some new believers, "Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others."
In our lives we come across situations and opportunities such as this. Someone may say a word about need or a situation they are facing and it's up to us to rely on God to have the words to share with those around us. All this week we've been affirming our faith as the faith that has given us new life and that is leading us to fullness of life here and one day to the eternal fullness of life eternal. If God has shared it with us, it's up to us to share it with others. This past Sunday Nellie and I tried a new place for lunch. It seems to be family-run and we found the food quite good. I still had on my pastor's name badge, and as I was paying the young man behind the counter said, "You're a pastor, so I have a question. What's going to happen to those people who die without knowing about Jesus, like the ones in say, Africa." Well, that was all I needed to share with him about God using us and I shared how we had a team of witnesses in Mozambique going about that very business this week and last. I told him it was up to us to take every opportunity to share Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of the world. I also said we leave it to God's mercy for those who live and die not knowing.
What are you doing for the sake of God's kingdom?
PRAYER: Use me today loving God, even me. I sometimes am a person of limited words and shyness or fear to speak, but let me live a life that shares and if needed, give me the words to give witness to the mercy that You showed to me so that others may also believe. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day!
e.v.
