“But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you WILL receive power and WILL TELL people about me EVERYWHERE – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (vs. 8)
When we read this verse, we come away with an attitude . . . “YES . . . I can do it!” But where the rubber meets the road is another story.
Here’s an interesting note in my bible about this verse . . .
Jerusalem = the place of their worse experiences and greatest failure
Judea = the place where their neighbors and relatives lived and knew the worst about them
Samaria = the place of their worst prejudices
Each of us have “Jerusalems” in our lives . . . “Judeas” who have the “dirt” on us . . . “Samarias” we have yet to admit to ourselves.
Sharing the gospel where we live – in the face of our failures and with those have the scoop on us – is rarely our first choice. Yet that is exactly where we are commanded to begin.
Jesus has given us power – the Holy Spirit – to communicate the Word of God.
Our desire to see souls saved should be greater than the memories of our failures and the fear of our shortcomings.
Thank you, Lord, for your Holy Spirit who dwells within in us and who empowers us to be laborers in the harvest field, in spite of ourselves!
1 comment:
Wow, that is great insight into those 3 cities and what they represent. Great points! I agree, sometimes it seems harder to be a witness around people who really know us and what we've done in the past. One thing that's cool in those situations is, in some cases they can really see a huge change and are definitely struck by our witness!
Great reminders and things to think & pray about, thanks!
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