I’m loving
the Acts study I’m doing with the ladies from church each week. I’ve done this
study before, but it’s been about a decade, and as is true with many studies of
Scripture, seeing the same words in different seasons brings new understanding
I wouldn’t have been ready to see before.
This week we studied chapter
five, and there were several sentences that snagged my attention and challenged
me. One of them was the very last sentence in the chapter: they did not
cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
They were the apostles,
who had recently been imprisoned, given a cease-and-desist order, and beaten.
Those are some pretty significant and seemingly valid reasons to quiet down. I
think most people would have understood if they changed tactics or stopped
entirely.
But they didn’t.
They knew what God had called
them to do, and they did it without ceasing.
In our study, we’ve been talking
about the boldness of the early church. Boldness is not an area where I excel, so
this has been a real challenge for my heart. And this part made me pause, because
I realized the actual sacrifice behind their decision to continue. A sacrifice
of comfort and safety and so much more. And the continuation was not tentative
or hesitant in any way. It was without ceasing.
Wow!
1 comment:
Oh thank you, Tammy! What a sweet way to start my day! Thanks for taking time to pop in and leave a note!
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