Moving On

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

MOVING ON

Acts 18:5-6

5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.   6 But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."

NIV

It has been quite sone time that we have had any acts from anyone other then Paul. Nevertheless, he is an Apostle and Silas and Timothy are members of a group that traveled with him. However, this is very interesting regarding the response of Paul as he comes up against such opposition from his own people, the Jews. How is it they not only refuse to see the truth but they vehemently oppose the messenger of this good news that the Messiah has come and lived among them, did many miracles, taught the truth about himself and God and ended up on a cross, sacrificing himself for the forgiveness of the sin within people and died for them, shed his blood for them, because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin, and then having been buried, he stay three days in the tomb, just as it was prophesied, and then on the third day God raised him from the dead, and he showed himself to hundreds of people and even Thomas was shaken to the core proclaiming to Jesus, “My Lord and my God”. These were Jews, the chosen people of God, the ones he watched over for years. The ones who had so much history with God and professed to follow God’s commands, which was the law. They would rather live under the law then be set free. For Paul to shake out his clothes in protest of their ignorant opposition was very symbolic showing them that he was done with them. They could rot in their sin; he was going to focus on the Gentiles which was also a great insult right back at them. Those Jews were so self-righteous, thinking they were the chosen people of God, and that Gentiles were simply unworthy people, who God should have nothing to do with. We can only hope that we never become that self-concerned about being the people of God and even as Gentiles. However, the truth is that in some sense we are the true Jews because we know that it is not about the circumcision of the flesh, but about the circumcision of our heart. We are exposing the most important and tender part of our being, our heart. The Jews were concerned about a physical proof of their abiding by the command of God regarding circumcision. Paul has come to the truth about it, and now he finalizes his calling to the Gentiles. We should always be open and be teachable, moldable and willing to accept the correction, the rebuke, if needed, and the teaching of God as well be open to the training in righteousness, so that we will be fully equipped for every good work. This means that unless we meet that criterion, it would be impossible for us to do any god work. So, we look to all scripture so as to allow God to work in our being, in our circumcised heart making all that come truth in order that we are fully equipped. It is sad those Jews were not open enough to see the truth, and even today they are those who vehemently oppose the truth about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. When we encounter those kinds of people it is useless to keep arguing with them and in some fashion, perhaps not actually shaking off our clothes at them, but turning from them to go on to find someone who will listen and respond by accepting the truth. To hammer away day in and day out, year after year at those who oppose the truth is an exercise in futility, move on. We do not understand why some spend many years hoping and praying that some person who is opposed to the truth, will somehow yield. The fact is we cannot change a person, or can we convince a person, this is the work of the Spirit to convict and convince, and if they oppose the work of the Spirit, they are not going to ever listen to the truth from us. This is God’s work and his alone and will always come up against opposition, but we continue to move on, looking for one who will listen. Once we have declared the truth and are opposed, we have no blood on our hands, but that does require that we declare to all the people we encounter the truth.