Saturday August 15, 2020

Today’s Reading: Acts 10:34-43

 All the prophets testify about Him that through His name everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins.

Acts 10:43

Meditation: God does not show favoritism. The work that He has accomplished through Jesus is available for all to receive. Peter speaks this message to an audience of Gentiles, non-Jews who wanted to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. During this time, Jews and non-Jews lived lifestyles that were very much separate from each other. It was believed in the Old Testament that God had reserved salvation for the Jewish nation alone. When Jesus fulfills the Law, He clarifies through His teaching the depth and breadth of God’s planned salvation that is not just for the Jewish people, but for all mankind. Through Jesus, God makes Himself known to all who earnestly seek Him.

This is the Heart of God: that every person would believe in Him and the work of salvation He has done through Christ, His Son. He has commanded witnesses to testify the Truth of the Gospel around the world for this very reason. It’s easy to believe that God wants to save the people we cherish, but it can sometimes be difficult to apply that same principle to people we deem ‘less deserving.’ The truth that God makes His Salvation available to all can really test what we want to believe about God, Who desires all to inherit life everlasting. The truth about God is that He not only says to us, ‘My Son is preparing a place for You. I have arranged for You to stay with me in Eternity. Will You join me?’ He also looks upon all others with that same compassion. As His followers who believe in His undeserved salvation for us, we must also believe that God grants it for others. To be united in heart and mind with the God Who has saved us is to understand that He desires for all people to be saved.

How does understanding the Heart of God affect our own heart for others? Let it encourage us to look past what we see and instead view people from God’s perspective.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for the work You’ve done through Jesus. Thank You for seeing me with eyes of compassion and saving me. Thank You for the assurance of eternity with You because of Your Son. I pray that You open my eyes to see others as You see them, and remind me that the need they have for You is the same as the need I have for You. In Jesus’ Precious Name I pray, AMEN.

Thru the Bible in a year (credit: Biblestudytools.com): Acts 10:1-33; Joshua 7-8; Job 24