I read these accounts and my eyes opened wide. Life was so different back in the NT times. People had a passion for the spiritual. Who today would riot because they thought their god was being dissed by newcomers to town? Who would run around casting demons out of others in the name of a god they didn’t believe in or the name of a missionary who served this god? Not in my world!!
In my world some people have room for spiritual things… but very few would think of it in any exclusive way. And there is little passion to share your faith with another in order to convert them. Faith in my western world has been flattened. Faith, when one has it, rarely really affects how one lives.
We are a long way from NT times.
The question I am wrestling with is, ‘How can I live passionately for Jesus in such a way that my life and witness draws others to faith in Jesus, a faith in Jesus that honestly impacts life and how we live?’
Our cultural influence is so strong and it says, ‘if you want to have a faith it’s okay, as long as your faith doesn’t really change how you live’. So when I think about being a witness that draws others to faith in Jesus, that impacts life, it can’t simply be sharing information. It has to grip the heart where true change occurs. And people in my world rarely go to those places. All too often faith is more a window dressing rather than a life impacting.
So this morning I am struggling with how to live so that my life makes a lasting spiritual impact on others… like the impact I see in this chapter where people would willingly renounce former practices even if that renunciation might cost them significantly and monetarily (see 18-19).
Lord, I am far from perfect. I have many areas where I still need to change. Even so, Lord, how can I live so that my life witnesses to a life change that draws people to You? I need help navigating my world in an impactful way. I pray this is Jesus’ name. Amen
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