Father, enable me to keep focused on the task at hand – walking closely by Your side. May I have a listening ear and a willing heart. Amen.
Acts 10:1-8 (<<click here to read the passage)
We all know that life can be difficult…and for some of us, that is the understatement of our lives! Many of us struggle but as I’ve been told on numerous occasions, you can always find someone worse off than you. But believe you me, it is most certainly not a competition!
Regardless of where we find ourselves along the continuum of life, we must never forget that as followers of Christ, God is always by our side – with us, guiding us, encouraging us, all with a love that only He can live out in and through us!
But we also must never forget that though that is of utmost truth, that God is also diligently pursuing all those who do not know Him. Though some want nothing to do with Him as well as many who don’t believe in His existence at all – we must understand that that does not deter our loving Father. (Never give up praying for friends and loved ones, don’t give up on them for God surely hasn’t!)
But then there are also individuals in every age who want so desperately to know God – the true God. They strive to live out everything they can think of to follow Him, though they too do not know Him. And though they do not realize it, God is there for them as well, working behind the scenes, if you will, setting things in motion so that He may be known by them. He is eager and exuberant to be known!
Cornelius, the Roman centurion in today’s passage, fit into that last category. One of the many features of my Life Application Study Bible is the Personality Profiles which highlight key characters throughout the text. The one regarding Cornelius states,
Four significant aspects of Cornelius’s character are noted in Acts: (1) He actively sought God, (2) he revered God, (3) he was generous in meeting other people’s needs, and (4) he prayed. God told him to send for Peter, because Peter would give him more knowledge about the God he was already seeking to please.
Cornelius was doing all he knew to do to please a God he knew of but did not know personally. Even in his ignorance, he diligently sought out God and God instigated a connection!
The Apostle Peter was the key – though initially a somewhat reluctant one…but we’ll look at the rest of Cornelius and Peter’s story tomorrow!
Mar 29th, 2022, Tues, 6:12 pm
