On the day the church was birthed, we read: ‘All of [the apostles] were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?”…Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”’ (vv. 4-8,12 NIV 1984 Edition).
The question ‘What does this mean?’ indicates that God loves and uses all kinds of people - gypsies and cowboys, bikers and academics, single parents and well-heeled executives. It also tells us that when we’re filled with God’s Spirit, He has equipped each of us to reach a specific kind of person. So:
1) Who do you find it easy to talk to? Teenagers? Drug addicts? The elderly? You may be tongue-tied around children but eloquent with executives. No problem; that’s how God designed you.
2) Who do you feel the most compassion for? God doesn’t burden each of us equally. ‘He fashions [our] hearts individually’ (Psalm 33:15 NKJV).
What makes your heart break and your pulse race? When you see the homeless, or victims of the sex trade? The newly-bereaved or the divorced? Paul says, ‘[God] comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others’ (2 Corinthians 1:4 NLT). So, discover who you are called to reach.
Is 7-8, Gal 1
No comments:
Post a Comment