Seize The Opportunity
Philip and the Ethiopian
26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a]eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."
30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.
31"How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth."[b]
34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"[c] 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
Tommy's Thoughts:
We can be so preoccupied with ourselves that we no longer concern about the welfare and needs of those around us. We no longer sensitive to the Spirit’s nudging to serve and take action to meet the needs of others. We became too busy with our own interests and happiness that we easily ignore and shake off opportunities to say or do something in Jesus’ name.
We learned from Phillip in today’s passage, that we should always be ready, aware and attentive to God’s leading through the Holy Spirit. Though at times, it is not easy when we may not know or understand His plans, but we can trust Him that the results will always worth our time and energy, that God’s way is always right.
Dear Lord, thank You for reminding me to pause and take time to be concern for those around me, to be more sensitive to their needs. Teach me not to be constantly engrossed and wrapped up in my own work and problems that I use them as excuses to not care or treat others poorly. Teach me also to seize every opportunity to follow Your leading and commands, with my actions magnify and my heart glorify Your name. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Bee's Thoughts:
When we pray to the Lord and then stop for a moment to listen, very often we can feel the Hoy Spirit's prompting in our hearts. But the problem with us is that we tend to pray and then do things our ways. Then we wonder why God didn't speak to us or answer our prayers.
Here we see that Philip obeyed "the angel of the Lord" to share the with the eunuch. We should learn to be alert at all times to share the good news when the opportunity arises. The bible says in 2 Timothy 4:2 that we must "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction."
Dear Lord,
Forgive me for times I may not listen to Your Spirit's prompting to share Your word with someone. I pray that I will obey when it's time for me to share Christ. Give me wisdom to speak without fear.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
