On my morning walk, I noticed that a vehicle had stopped in the middle of the road and was pointed in the wrong direction. The driver was unaware of the danger to herself and others because she was asleep and appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. The situation was perilous, and I had to act. After getting her alert enough to be moved to the passenger side of the car, I drove her to a safe place.
Physical danger isn’t the only harm we face. When Paul saw worldly-wise, clever people in Athens in spiritual peril because “the city was full of idols,” he “was greatly distressed” (Acts 17:16). The apostle’s innate response to those who flirted with ideas that failed to consider Christ was to share about God’s purposes in and through Jesus (vv. 18, 30-31). And some who heard believed (v. 34).
Seeking ultimate meaning apart from faith in Christ is dangerous. Those who’ve found forgiveness and true fulfilment in Jesus have been rescued from dead-end pursuits and have been given the message of reconciliation (see 2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Sharing the good news of Jesus with those under the intoxicating influences of this life is still the means God uses to snatch people from harm’s way.
By Arthur Jackson
REFLECT & PRAY
If you haven’t made your way to Jesus, what are you waiting for? If you have, what’s keeping you from telling someone how God has rescued you from spiritual harm’s way?
Heavenly Father, thank You for rescuing me from the spiritual harm of my own sin. Please use me to help others who can’t see that they’re in danger.
Acts 17 shows how Paul did all he could to share the good news of Jesus. Being Jewish, when in Athens he naturally engaged with the Jewish people and “God-fearing Greeks” who frequented the synagogue (v. 17). But he also went to “the marketplace” each day, where he met with “Epicurean and Stoic philosophers” (vv. 17-18). These two groups saw life very differently and gathered to debate those differences. Yet Paul sought common ground with them ( vv. 22-23), creating a basis to tell them about the God who “gives everyone life and breath and everything else” (v. 25).
Tim Gustafson
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