FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26
“many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.”
Acts 17:12 (NLT)
THE WORD: OBEY FAITHFULLY
Three chefs were working in a restaurant one day, when their kitchen supervisor approached them with an order, and instructions on how to properly prepare it. The first chef looked at the instructions, and said “You can show a recipe to 100 different people, and each of them get a different meaning. You can’t understand recipes, so why even read them?” The second chef took a slightly different angle. He said “I don’t believe this recipe to be the literal directions of our supervisor. I believe the ingredients all have hidden meanings. I think the meat represents one thing, the spices and other ingredients symbolize something else, and the time and cooking temperature are some sort of mysterious allegory.”
While the other two were engaging in their debate, the third chef simply took the recipe, and prepared the dish according to instructions. The dish turned out to be delicious, and I’m sure you can guess what happened next. This chef was rewarded for following directions properly, while the other two were reprimanded, or worse.
God’s Word is His instruction manual for our lives. In Acts 17, the people believed God’s Word and then began to obey God’s Word. Many of them started out as honest skeptics. And after carefully examining God’s word, many of them became willing followers of Jesus.
Reflection
James 1:22 teaches, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” We are deceiving ourselves when we hear what God has to say but then choose not to live in obedience to what we have heard. Is there any instructions God has given you that you are still debating or disobeying?
Praise
Thank God for not leaving us on our own to figure out what matters in life and eternity. Ask God to give you the wisdom to follow His commands and experience His best.
