Acts 10
Acts 10 speaks with great detail about God’s clear message delivered to multiple people that Jesus’ sacrifice was a gift to all people. God wants to be certain that people of every race and religious background hear of his great gift. God makes it very clear in this chapter that He shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. Jesus is Lord of all and He sees no differences between any people groups. In Acts 10:42 Peter tells us that “Jesus ordered us (the disciples) to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all-the living and the dead. He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”
Since we don’t really face the same cultural stigmas today between Jews and Gentiles as the people living during the time when this chapter was written, I think we need to ask ourselves how this teaching applies to us and why it is included in God’s word. He clearly wanted us to get this message…why? God knows our hearts. He made us with human nature and He knows how we think. My guess is He knew that people throughout time would struggle with judging each other. When we make assumptions about others by how things appear and then adjust our actions accordingly, we are forgetting that Jesus is for everyone. When we shy away from pursuing conversations because of fear, we are ignoring that God shows no favoritism. Do you relate?
Matthew 7:1 (paraphrased by Sarah Young) says, “Come to me and rest. Give your mind a break from its habitual judging. You form judgments about this situation, and that situation, this person, and that person, yourself, even the weather-as if judging were your main function in life. But I created you first and foremost to know Me and to live in rich communication with Me. When you become preoccupied with passing judgment, you usurp My role.”
I am confident that if we live in rich communication with Him we will struggle less with judging others or trying to gage their openness to God, and we will lovingly move to sharing Jesus with who ever God places in our path. When we spend time getting to know more of God’s heart, we start to see others the way He sees them. It is not for us to decide how God’s message will be received. Our reputations do not factor in to God’s command to share His message with everyone. When we see others with the lavish love that God has for all of His creation we can’t help but let them know about His offering for them. Let’s watch for the opportunities that God puts in front of us today to share His story.