Make me into a “Babbler” for Jesus!

Wednesday  2-10-16 (Home in Modesto)     

Scripture reading for today:    Lev 13 - 14     Acts 17

S=Scripture  O=Observation  A=Application  P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Acts 17:28-30 “...in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent...”  NKJV

O.  Paul escapes from the Jews who have come down from Thessalonica to Berea and is taken to Athens where he will wait for Timothy and Silas.  Now Paul is apparently alone.  But he doesn’t hide in the shadows.  He needs no one to push him.  Paul is driven by His message and by the Holy Spirit.  Right away he is in the synagogue reasoning with Jews, then with gentile worshippers, then in the marketplace, and now with elite brains, the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers.  These thinkers invite him to the Areopagus to hear this “babbler” out.  Paul is one lone Christian man among throngs of people of pagan religions.  He could have waited for reinforcement, but no.  The Words of Truth that burned in his soul could not be held back.  From day one he kept up a stream of talk about Jesus.  You couldn’t shut this “babbler” down.

The audience in the Areopagus probably thought they were the smartest thinkers in the world.  But Paul presents them with a living, powerful Creator God and accuses them of spiritual “ignorance.”  That had to hurt their pride.  In a few days, this unknown man who has appeared from nowhere is now the talk of the town.

A.  I am searching my brain, but can’t come up with a single time that I, being alone in a city of unbelievers, have preached Jesus and caused a stir.  Many times I went with one helper or two.  But I guess I have always relied on reinforcements.  But Paul had a secret weapon... It was his shocking personal testimony of an “about-face-conversion.”  One moment he was filled with hatred, seeking to kill and destroy these followers of Jesus and the next moment he is a blind puddle of mud at the feet of Jesus, His Conqueror.  I believe the stronger and more astounding our conversion experience, the easier it is for us to share Jesus with unbelievers. 

P.  Oh Lord, I need a fresh, powerful new experience with You.  Lead me back to the foot of Your cross.  Take me back to the secret place where I have met with You before.  I cannot, I dare not face a cruel, mocking world without the fresh touch of heaven on my soul.  Oh Lord, prepare me to be a “babbler” filled only with the Your message.  Amen.

Ralph