THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17
The governor invited Barnabas and Saul to visit him, for he wanted to hear the word of God. When the governor saw what had happened, he became a believer, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.
Acts 13:8, 12 (NLT)
LAUNCHING OUT: LOOK FOR OPEN HEARTS
A nurse on the Pediatric Ward before listening to the little ones’ heartbeat would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts. Their eyes would always light up with awe, but she never got a response to equal four-year old David’s comment. She tucked the stethoscope gently into his ears and placed the disk over his heart. “Listen,” she said…“What do you suppose that is?” He drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap-tap-tapping deep in his chest. Then his face broke out in a wondrous grin, and he asked, “Is that Jesus knocking?”
God often begins to work on people’s hearts long before we open our mouths to talk to them. The governor of Cyprus was ready to hear God’s word, in Acts 13, before Barnabas and Saul arrived. John Piper comments on the fact that this Roman ruler of Cyprus sought to hear the word of God writing “This is amazing. He is the ruler of all Cyprus. These missionaries are absolute nobodies in the Roman world. They have no human authority. They have no political standing. They have no world ecclesiastical body behind them. They are unknowns. But they are called by God, sent by God, and now it is God that, against all odds, has gotten them a hearing on their first mission with the governor of the whole island of Cyprus.”
Reflection
Mike reminded us in the sermon that God opening hearts is part of “Living Sent.” As you go about living your life, do you lookout for those lost people you encounter in whom God is clearly already working on? And then do you boldly join God where He is working?
Praise
Thank God for the gift of softening hearts. Ask God to help you recognize anyone in your sphere of influence who already has an open heart to hear about God’s love.
