True to the Faith

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

TRUE TO THE FAITH

Acts 14:20-25

The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. 21 They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24 After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, 25 and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

NIV

More travel log, giving us all the places Paul and Barnabas went to, but we have some life lessons we can glean from within this section. They strengthened and encouraged the people to remain true to the faith. There is a great truth here in that we should all strengthen and encourage others in their faith. Of course that requires having concern for the faith of others. It might seem at times, we leave that kind of behavior to the pastor, seeing us all as needing to be encouraged and strengthened. But the fact is some of us who have been in the faith for a long time should be strengthening and encouraging those who have not been in the faith a long time, yet it also just might be that those who are new in the faith have an enthusiasm for Jesus that those of us who have been in believer for many years have become complacent in our faith, seemingly placing our trust in good works and thus somewhat weaker in our faith and are in need of strengthening and encouraging. But the puzzling part of this section is the statement about we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. It may not be that our entrance into the kingdom requires hardship, that is God ordains that as a requirement for entrance, but the fact is when we become believers in Jesus Christ we will have the world oppose us. That is, of course, if we are proclaiming the truth about Jesus, which will condemn the values of this world as sin, while giving the plan of escape from the consequences of that sin. If we are merely being believers, but living much in the same manner as the rest of the world, and not ever proclaiming the gospel, on a personal level, that is, then perhaps no hardship will befall us, but then have we truly gained entrance into the kingdom. It would appear Paul is stating the fact that as we strive to live in accordance with the truth, the faith, then we will stand opposed to the ways of the world, we will take our stand, speak up, and thus we will see hardship as a result of our taking a stand against sin. This would seem a little different then preaching God is love, he loves you and so do we. What hardship would we experience through that kind of message? Maybe we just do not want to experience any hardships and we will leave that to those people Paul was speaking to back then, and not to us today. Maybe we will just take all the blessings without the hardships. But the fact is if we are being the believers we should be we will have some hardships put upon us by the world. And for that reason we need strengthening and encouragement to remain true to the faith.