September 10, 2021

AVAILABILITY

Acts 8:30-31

So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

Personal Challenge

In this passage of Acts, we are told that Philip was approached by an angel and told to go to a certain place along the road out of Jerusalem. Philip immediately did what he was told without questioning it. He didn't even question the fact that it was an angel the told him to do this. When he got there, the spirit within Philip spoke to him and told him to go up to a chariot that had a eunuch from Ethiopia in it. This man was a powerful man in the courts of the Ethiopian queen and a devout Jew who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover. This is where these two verses pick up the story. What we see here is that Philip was willing to listen to an angel of the Lord and do what he was told, He was in such a close relationship with his resurrected Lord that he could hear the Spirit speaking to him. And, he was willing and available to do what he was told to do. In the rest of the passage, Philip leads the eunuch to Jesus and baptizes him on the spot. Both Philip and the eunuch were available to be used by God. This very well could have been the man that took the Christian faith back to Ethiopia, which still has a strong Orthodox presence. Glory be to God. May we all learn to be available as Philip was. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!