Be Still and Listen

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

BE STILL AND LISTEN

Acts 10:1-8

10:1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!" 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked. The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea." 7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

NIV

Interestingly, Cornelius was a devout Roman centurion who feared God, or was in awe of God, which the Greek word also carries the meaning of to revere God. Here again, we see a personal visit by an angel of God. It is defined as a vision; however, in Greek, it means something gazed at, a spectacle. It appears that Cornelius saw this angel of God who spoke directly to him and stared at the angel. What the angel said about Cornelius's good deeds gives some clue as to how God sees us. His prayers and gifts to the poor came up as a memorial offering before God. That is a specific good deed, rather than doing good things within the church or as a church. Cornelius gave gifts to the poor, those who had little, who were lacking, living in want. It seems today some believers are skeptical, maybe even a little afraid of the poor, and do not want direct contact with them. We wonder how we can give gifts to the poor. What would that look like? Some churches make occasional donations to food pantries so that those in need might have food, and, in some sense, that is a gift to the poor. However, this narrative speaks of one man, Cornelius, who gave gifts to the poor, which would mean either from his personal giving or perhaps through one of the men in his Regiment. Nevertheless, God had been watching over him and sent an angel to bring about an encounter with Peter. God had a plan for Cornelius, and he intervened directly to make sure that plan would be accomplished. Although giving to the poor could be a great lesson, we should focus more on the purpose God has for our lives. All throughout the Holy Scriptures, we see people being directly contacted by God with instructions for specific tasks, or their lives, where they are to be, what they should do, where they should go, or who they should speak to. Do we live as someone who has been contacted by God? Do we just live our lives while including some relationship with God? Do we live by the traditions we have put in place, even those religious ones, thinking we are being good Christians? What would happen if God actually intervened in our lives, telling us to do something completely out of the ordinary, out of the pattern we have established? Are we ready to move forward with his plan, even though we haven't done anything like this before? Could we do something outside our comfort zone? Cornelius, a Gentile, a Roman Officer, was told to seek out a Jewish man, and he did. Let us always be available to hear from the Lord. Let us listen more, rather than do all the talking in our times of prayer. Maybe, just maybe, God wants to say something to us, and we are too busy talking, too busy with our traditions, too busy with our lives, to hear him. Let us be still and listen, knowing He is God.