Today's Scripture Reading (March 17, 2024): Acts 17
The residents of Thessalonica are
stirred up and go searching for Paul and Silas. Like many mobs, they are
willing to substitute who they can find for their intended targets when they
can't find them. And so they arrest Jason and some others, intending to kill
them. Senseless, maybe. But these men and women, changed
by the power of God, are causing turmoil all over the city of Thessalonica; they
are enough of a disruption that something has to be done.
At first, Thessalonica's
residents believed that Paul and Silas were just trying to sell them something,
but now they can tell it is something more; it is something dangerous. The
Christian faith that had been carried to their town by Paul and Silas threatened
to change Thessalonica into a drastically different city. It was a risk that
some of the residents didn't want to take. And so they decided to destroy the
risk by destroying the change agents, Paul and Silas.
Erwin McManus,
Founding Pastor of Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, mentioned many years ago that
he was on a personal mission against a saying that he believes the contemporary
church has bought into; "The safest place is at the center of God's will." He
says that the phrase is so beautiful, it is so encouraging, it is so lovely,
and it is so unbiblical.
Then McManus
tells a story about his child. He had just become a Pastor and sent his boy to
a Bible camp. However, when his son came home, Erwin realized he had a changed
kid on his hands, and the change was not good. Erwin's child had left home confident
and ready to engage with the world. But this self-assured child came home and
seemed to be afraid of his shadow. Erwin says this change became really
apparent at night. Now, his boy had to have a light on when he went to bed,
something that never had been necessary before.
And so, Erwin
openly wondered what had happened. I mean, they wouldn't have told them ghost
stories at a Bible camp, would they? That didn't seem right. One night, soon
after his son returned from camp, it happened. Erwin entered his son's room and
found his boy hiding under the covers. It was then that the story emerged. They
hadn't been telling ghost stories at camp; they had been telling demon stories,
and demons were everywhere. Then, the question Erwin had been dreading came
from his little boy. "Daddy, will you pray that God will make me safe?"
Erwin says, in that moment, there is nothing that he wanted to do more than to
pray that God would make him safe. He wanted to reassure him that God was close
and would not let him go. But he looked down at his child and said, "No, I
won't pray that God will make you safe."
McManus says
the look in his son's eyes broke his heart, and tears almost started to flow.
But Erwin drew close to his little boy and said, "But I will pray that God
will make you dangerous, so that the demons run whenever you come into the room."
I have to admit that I like that thought. And it has become part of my prayers for
my friends and associates. God, don't put a hedge of protection around us to keep
us safe; make us dangerous to all of Satan's schemes. Make us change agents in
this world. Let us be the Jasons, Pauls, and Silases this world needs.
After all, we
are Christians, changed by God's power. Anything less is a fraction of what God
wants to do in our lives. God has a plan for your life. It may not be the one of
your dreams, and it's probably not a safe plan, but it is God's, and I
guarantee that it will make you dangerous.
Tomorrow's Scripture
Reading: Acts 18
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