Read in Acts 17 the other day and while I posted Paul’s speech to the Athenians on my Facebook a few days ago, as I reread it today I noted some significant things for my own life and for the life of every believer.
My thoughts on Acts 17:24-34…
Verses 24-26a proclaim God’s Sovereignty:
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. 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. From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth…
26b-28a declare a Purpose for Our Lives:
And He determined the time set for them [every nation of men] and the exact places where they should live. 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. For in Him we live and move and have our being.
28b-29 express Our Identity as believers in Christ:
As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’ 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.
30-31 pronounce A Call on Our Lives:
In the past God overlooked such ignorance but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.
And 32-34 demonstrates the reality of human hearts:
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead [Jesus], some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” At that, Paul left the council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
Thank You Father for Your truth revealed in Your Word. How humbling to recognize Your sovereignty over all the earth and everything in it. How encouraging to know You have designed us for a time and place, a purpose for each individual! How comforting to know that wherever we are, our identity is in You and no other person or thing! How the soul is awakened upon realizing that You have called us to more and will no longer overlook ignorance! How sad it is, Father, to know that while many will be inquisitive and enjoy hearing the Gospel, few will believe. Grant us the faith today to believe with all of ourselves and to continue to share our lives out of love for You and the hearts that are not yet for You. It is through Christ’s birth, death and resurrection that I pray these things.
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