Acts 13:4-5, 14:1
Are you the type of person who plans every little detail, or the type who plans almost nothing? Maybe you're somewhere in between? Planning can be very important, as many of us know. You often want a strategy going forward for whatever you’re doing. Let’s say you’re building a LEGO set. What is your strategy? Do you plan to follow the instruction booklet every step of the way? Or do you try to ignore the booklet as much as you can until you absolutely have to look at it? Or how about a sports game? At a professional level, do you think that your team goes into their game with no plan of attack at all? That would be insanity to have no game plan at all. To have no strategy whatsoever and to just fully hope for the best. The best teams often have great game plans and strategies. There are so many examples we could use to show why it is important to have a plan or strategy in many aspects of our lives.
As we look at our passage today, we can see this same concept. When we go to share the gospel in our lives, do we have a game plan or strategy at all? Now, I am not saying you need to have every little thing you might say planned out, but in Acts 13:4-5 and 14:1, you can see a strategy for sharing the gospel. Make no mistake, the Holy Spirit sent out Paul and Barnabas. However, we do not see them aimlessly wandering; they had a strategy. Their mission was Spirit-led and thoughtfully structured. When they arrive at a new city, they don’t start guessing where everyone might be. They go right to the synagogue. The exact place where the scriptures would be taught, and where many people may have believed. We see them doing this many times in the book of Acts. They were being faithful and intentional. We even see that Jews and Greeks both come to believe!
What about you? Do you have any plan or strategy when sharing the gospel in your life? Do you try to plan opportunities for yourself to share? Or do you just hope that it will somehow happen, and if it doesn't, well, maybe it wasn't meant to be? We need to invite the Holy Spirit to move us to the mission of sharing the gospel and to actually take the steps in our lives where that could happen. We need to take action in our lives and not just hope to react.
How can you use where you are to share the gospel in your life? Maybe it is your family, neighbors, coworkers, friends, etc. Look at your life and pray where you can be led in that area more. Pray for God to give you opportunities and for you to seek them out. Take time to develop a strategy for when and how you might share. Most importantly, take every opportunity to share the gospel. It can have an eternal impact on someone’s life!
Are you the type of person who plans every little detail, or the type who plans almost nothing? Maybe you're somewhere in between? Planning can be very important, as many of us know. You often want a strategy going forward for whatever you’re doing. Let’s say you’re building a LEGO set. What is your strategy? Do you plan to follow the instruction booklet every step of the way? Or do you try to ignore the booklet as much as you can until you absolutely have to look at it? Or how about a sports game? At a professional level, do you think that your team goes into their game with no plan of attack at all? That would be insanity to have no game plan at all. To have no strategy whatsoever and to just fully hope for the best. The best teams often have great game plans and strategies. There are so many examples we could use to show why it is important to have a plan or strategy in many aspects of our lives.
As we look at our passage today, we can see this same concept. When we go to share the gospel in our lives, do we have a game plan or strategy at all? Now, I am not saying you need to have every little thing you might say planned out, but in Acts 13:4-5 and 14:1, you can see a strategy for sharing the gospel. Make no mistake, the Holy Spirit sent out Paul and Barnabas. However, we do not see them aimlessly wandering; they had a strategy. Their mission was Spirit-led and thoughtfully structured. When they arrive at a new city, they don’t start guessing where everyone might be. They go right to the synagogue. The exact place where the scriptures would be taught, and where many people may have believed. We see them doing this many times in the book of Acts. They were being faithful and intentional. We even see that Jews and Greeks both come to believe!
What about you? Do you have any plan or strategy when sharing the gospel in your life? Do you try to plan opportunities for yourself to share? Or do you just hope that it will somehow happen, and if it doesn't, well, maybe it wasn't meant to be? We need to invite the Holy Spirit to move us to the mission of sharing the gospel and to actually take the steps in our lives where that could happen. We need to take action in our lives and not just hope to react.
How can you use where you are to share the gospel in your life? Maybe it is your family, neighbors, coworkers, friends, etc. Look at your life and pray where you can be led in that area more. Pray for God to give you opportunities and for you to seek them out. Take time to develop a strategy for when and how you might share. Most importantly, take every opportunity to share the gospel. It can have an eternal impact on someone’s life!
Posted in Devotional