Daily Devotional for Wednesday, February 1st

The Conversation with Cornelius

“And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew
to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I
should not call any man common or unclean,” Acts 10:28.
       

We all like to associate with similar people. We enjoy association with those with whom we have things in common. Even in our churches, this is so. Worship styles, translations and so on are things we seek to share in common. Commonalities breed agreement and harmony. Seeking common ground is not inherently wrong. On the other hand, we begin to edge over the line when we go from seeking common ground to excluding those who are not like us. Even more, when we fail to share Jesus with those who are not like us, we cross a line we should never cross.
Perhaps we do not feel comfortable with certain people. Perhaps we decide that certain people could not respond to or are not worthy to hear the gospel. After all, they might get saved, and the next thing we know, they show up wanting to go to church with us! Would that not be awkward?
Peter understood a bit about who he was. We might say Peter took ownership of his biases. In his Jewish culture, the Gentiles were those people. Peter, in his born state, would never have gone to a Gentile with the news of God; in fact, to do so would not have even been legal! Many of us are bound by similar backgrounds and issues.
Peter understood another thing, and he came to this understanding by the Holy Spirit. All humanity was created in the image of God, and it is God who determines who is worthy. God said whosoever is worthy. Will we agree with Him?

JUST A THOUGHT: What a shame to not reach out to those people, when we consider that, in the eyes of God, we were one of those people.

Wally Fry