Sundays are always full and so there is always plenty to thank You for, Father! People coming together for an uplifting time of worship and then a wonderful time meeting up with my parents and sister, including safe travels to and from. Thank You for Your watchcare and love!
Acts 14:1-7(<<click here to read the passage)
One thing that I’ve always wanted to do is to serve jury duty. I’ve received notifications several times, but I’ve never been chosen to participate. I think it would be very interesting, but I think one of the most difficult things would be coming to a consensus.
I looked up the word to make sure I fully understood the term. A consensus is a judgment arrived at by most of those concerned. That definition then led me to the question, do juries need to always make unanimous decisions. I discovered that, at least in the United States, juries in federal cases must come to a unanimous decision. In state courts, whether a jury needs to be unanimous depends on the state and the type of trial. For criminal trials, nearly every state requires the jury to produce a unanimous verdict.
Hmmm…I think unanimous decisions would be hard to come by. Unanimity is not guaranteed. Even in small decisions, it can be difficult to get everyone on the same page, regardless of age, gender, or any other qualifier. Just deciding on where to go to dinner can be a challenge!
Paul and Barnabas had wonderfully good news to share but I don’t know of a single time that ever got everyone on board to accept the truth. There was always dissension. There was never a unanimous agreement.
You would think that what happened in the latter part of verse 3 would have made a difference. It says, …the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders. NLT
My Life Application Study Bible says “…we see here that even if we could perform a miracle, it wouldn’t convince everyone. God gave these men power to do great wonders as confirmation of the message of grace, but people were still divided.”
We’ve been touching on similar thoughts recently, but we simply cannot stress about the fact that everyone who hears the Good News of what Christ did for us will accept it. Some may never do so and others may have to just let it sit on the back burner of their minds for a while until it becomes a reality in their hearts and minds. The closing portion of the note reads.
Sow your seeds of the Good News on the best ground you can find in the best way you can, and leave the convincing to the Holy Spirit.
May 8th, 2022, Sun, 7:17 pm
