Light

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

LIGHT

Acts 26:19-23

19 "So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23 that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles."

NIV

Certainly not a single person who had such a vision as Paul had would ever dream of being disobedient to that vision. If Jesus actually appeared before for us and told us what we must do, first repenting of our sinful life, and second as to what task he has called us to do, we would no doubt comply one hundred percent as Paul did. The part of Paul’s testimony that is somewhat bothersome is when we says that people such repent and turn to God, which is certainly understandable, but then he goes on to say they should prove their repentance by their deeds. What does he mean by that? We know we cannot earn salvation by deeds, but if we repent of our sinful life, then our deeds, or our behavior should prove we have indeed repented. It is not about what kind of work or efforts we do, but that we prove by our life that we have repented. We no longer do or behave in the manner we did before we repented. We cannot continue to behave in the same manner, as our behavior is what shows what is in our hearts. If Jesus or the Spirit is dwelling within our heart, then our deeds, our behavior should reflect the Spirit rather than the self which once controlled our behavior. When we turn to God we turn away from that old self, and our nature is now new, and this nature should be like Jesus. Paul was not only making that point to Festus and Agrippa but to those Jews who wanted to kill him. They confessed God but by their very desire to commit murder had not really turned to God as well as proved by their deeds they have done so. They were religious but still controlled by their sinful nature, thus never really repenting and turning to God. The other aspect of what Paul said we in that fact that although they did try to kill him, he had God’s help and here he stands able to tell the story. This is proof that God will see us through it all, so that we can bring him glory, so that we can continue to tell the story of his love, grace, mercy, provision, protection and direction in our lives. We have seen the light of Christ and we have been told that we now are the light of the world, and that we should let our light shine so that other will see that light and find their way to Jesus, the true light. If we have repented and turned to God,  our light will shine both in our behavior and in our words.