November 19, 2010

You Must Learn to Connect the Dots

"Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?' 31 The man replied, 'How can I, unless someone instructs me?' And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.

The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 33 He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”

The eunuch asked Philip, 'Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?' So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.

As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, 'Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?' 37 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing." Acts 8:30-40 (NLT)

Pastor's Blog

I can’t think of any other way to say it. If you are a Christian, you have a responsibility to be able to explain the Bible basics to another person.

The Ethiopian was reading Isaiah 53. Philip knew that passage and then connected it to Jesus. The Ethiopian saw the connection, believed, was baptized, was saved, and then took the Gospel to his homeland where Christianity has ebbed and flowed for the last 2,000 years (mostly in the Coptic church).

I think the primary way to learn the basics is to decide to do so and then act on that decision in whatever way works for you. It is not true that it is too hard. All it takes is time, trouble, and intentionality. If you are reading these comments you are probably a person who has done or is doing this very thing. I congratulate you!!! You are among a minority of Christians who are intentional about learning the Bible and desire to communicate its message to others.

I encourage you to continue learning, ask God for opportunities to “connect the dots” for others and then to actually walk through the door when God opens one up.

Notice that the Ethiopian asked questions. God was already working on him. Phillip just responded to his inquisitiveness. God prepares the opportunities, we just need to keep our eyes open and maintain our preparedness. We don’t knock down doors, we just walk through them. But that in itself is a big responsibility.