Circumcised

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

CIRCUMCISED

Acts 7:5-8

 6 God spoke to him in this way: 'Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,' God said, 'and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.'   8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

NIV

Once again we travel into a history lesson from Stephen as he explains the truth to the high priest and the Sanhedrin. It does seem odd that he should tell them all about something they certainly should know. Stephen is bringing them to the point of accusing them of getting away from the truth, but we should be able to learn something from this for ourselves as well. We are reminded that when God promises, he fulfills his promise, which we see here in Abraham being the father of Isaac, and Isaac being the father of Jacob and through him the twelve tribes of Israel of which Stephen and all the Sanhedrin were members of. Stephen reminded them of the covenant of circumcision which God made with Abraham. Through this we are reminded of the teaching of the Apostle Paul about the covenant of true circumcision. It is possible that Stephen had this same concept as revealed to him through the Holy Spirit and that is why he is bringing this truth to the Sanhedrin. The fact that physical circumcision only has value if you obey all the law, but if you break just one point of the law, physical circumcision has no value at all. True Israel, true descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are those who have undergone circumcision of the heart. Outward signs of Christianity have no value unless we have undergone circumcision of the heart. Those four hundred years of being enslaved certainly remind us of the many years we spent enslaved in a world we did not belong, but we are also reminded that God delivered us and brought us out of slavery so we could worship him in this place. Although God made a covenant of the flesh with Abraham, he has also made of covenant of the heart with us. In Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision have any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Our covenant with God is a heart issue and so we allow him to circumcise our heart, to cut away the protecting portion, exposing the most sensitive part of our heart to him. This history lesson has become a life lesson of and for our heart.