Good Morning Friends,
In Acts 10 there are two primary characters
in the story: a seeker and a messenger.
Cornelius is the seeker. “At Caesarea there
was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian
Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously
to those in need and prayed to God regularly.” (Acts 10:1-2) Cornelius wanted
to know God and was doing all he knew to do in order to know Him. Of course, a
man doesn’t find God on his own. However, God did act to bring the seeker to
Himself. In fact, God worked to be sure the seeker was prepared when the messenger
came.
“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!’ 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. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called
Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.’” (Acts
10:3-6)
But God’s work in the life of the seeker is
only part of the story! There was a messenger, too.
“About noon the following day as they were on
their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He
became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared,
he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet
being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of
four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Then
a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ ‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter
replied. ‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’ The voice spoke to
him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ This happened
three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.” (Acts
10:9-16)
God worked in the life of the messenger, too.
God prepared the messenger to be ready to share the message with the seeker.
The rest of the story of Acts 10 is how God
brought the seeker and the messenger together and the miraculous story of
salvation that occurred when He did.
Most of the time we can only see one side of
the equation. When we were the seekers, we could see how God worked in our
lives to prepare us for His message, to bring us in contact with the messenger,
and to draw us to Himself. What we didn’t see was God’s work in the messenger
to get him ready, bring him to the place of contact, and work through him to
bring the message.
Salvation is always a miracle of God, God
working in both the seeker and the messenger!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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