As we continue from yesterday, we remember that Peter had been criticized by some Jewish Christians in Jerusalem for taking the gospel to the gentiles. As Peter explained the vision God had given him, then the visit by three men who asked Peter to go to Caesarea, minds began to change.
Peter did not get angry, nor did he retaliate. Peter merely began to explain why he had taken the gospel to the gentiles. During his explanation, he even showed them that he had felt the same way they had. He had declined the “unclean” before God, just as the Jewish Christians would have.
But God showed Peter that nothing was unclean that God had made. Therefore, when the men came knocking on Peter’s door and requested him to go to Caesarea, he could find no good reason for not going. God had showed him that he needed to change his views of the gentiles. As Peter spoke to them about Jesus, telling them all that He had done, the Holy Spirit came upon them. This solidified for Peter that he had done the right thing and convinced the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem of it, too.
First, this is good news for us. If God had not decided that everything he had made is clean, we would still be on the outside. Second, we should learn from this that God’s way is often much different than our way. We must be like Peter and be willing to go where God is calling us to go. We must be willing to help people we may not want to from our human perspective, because every person is important to and loved by God.
I pray we all thank God he chose to include us in his salvation. I pray we know that God loves every person he has created. I pray each one of us are willing to do what God is calling us to do. Thank God for loving you. Know that God loves everyone. Do what God is calling you to do.
Acts 11:15-17 “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?”
Marty Pressey 