The Lord is king!
….Let the nations tremble!
He sits on his throne between the cherubim.
….Let the whole earth quake!
The Lord sits in majesty in Jerusalem,
….exalted above all the nations.
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
….Your name is holy! Psalm 99:1-3 NLT

Acts 13:44-52 (<<click here to read the passage)

I drive a 2008 Toyota Tacoma with over 178,000 miles on it. (When I drove to Kohl’s 5 days a week, I’d put on about 300 miles a week!) Two winters ago, I discovered that mice had taken up residence in it. First of all, I saw visible evidence, in that their droppings were all over the place. Then I smelled their presence – if you’ve ever had hamsters or gerbils, you’d recognize that smell!

I found one of their nests in a storage compartment in my extended cab. I cleaned it out and wiped everything down with disinfectant. Regardless, the smell didn’t go away. It seemed to be stronger when I ran the heater and later the air conditioner. I suspected they may also have set up house in my ventilation system somewhere but didn’t know where to look. Shortly thereafter, the smell disappeared, so out of nose…out of mind.

Well, it started again this past winter, that is in my ventilation system. I had my truck in for something else and while it was in, I had them look into it. Sure enough, they found a substantial nest in my cabin filter. Yuck! They cleaned the nest out and replaced the filter – end of problem. (At least until next winter!)

The mice took something that was supposed to benefit the air in my truck by keeping it filtered and instead polluted it…disgustingly so.

In today’s passage, we see an example of something that was supposed to have benefited all of humanity by filtering out the sin that polluted it. Way back in Genesis 12, as God laid the foundations of what would become the nation of Israel, i.e., Abraham’s calling, God stated,

“All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” v3b NLT

God’s plan from the get-go was for Israel to be the instrument by which the entire world was blessed. …but they rejected the whole idea of Jesus being the Messiah. It didn’t fit their idea of what the Messiah was supposed to do and be.

Paul loved his people dearly, so he repeatedly (even after this instance) gave them opportunities to accept the truth, but time and time again they rejected the truth. Sadly, Paul proclaimed that they judged [them]selves unworthy of eternal life… v46b

Paul then said, “…we will offer it to the Gentiles. For the Lord gave us this command when he said…” And then he quoted what God through the prophet Isaiah had exclaimed,

‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
….to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’” v47 NLT

Despite His people’s utter lack of cooperation, God’s will would be accomplished. His word would go forth and Paul, God’s first missionary of the Gospel, fought the good fight until the very end, shining his light before a world lost in the darkness of sin. May we carry our lights high as well. Amen!

May 3rd, 2022, Tues, 6:28 pm