An immense gift
by Pastor Reid Matthias
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When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honoured the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48).
I was born in a set of triplets. I have an identical twin brother and a fraternal sister. As I was growing up, it was always interesting at Christmas and birthdays to see what we would receive as gifts. In some ways, my sister was lucky because she always received different gifts than Ryan and me. For the two of us, it was always a race to open our presents the fastest because we knew that what one got, so would the other. Gift givers didn’t want to show favouritism, obviously.
I have to admit, there were times when I received a present, and I wished that Ryan wouldn’t have gotten the same thing also. It feels kind of strange to admit that, but sometimes you want all the good stuff for yourself.
So it seemed for Paul and Barnabas. God’s chosen people, the Jews and converts to Judaism, believed that they were receivers of God’s good gift of eternal life, but they didn’t want to share it with the Gentiles. It seemed as if they believed there was a scarcity to God’s mercy, goodness and grace.
There can be times when this skewed belief still happens – denominations can believe that they have a monopoly on God’s mercy, goodness and grace. Sometimes, without intending, others are turned away because we just want to have the good stuff for ourselves.
Thankfully, God’s love is not scarce. It is overfilling, overflowing and overwhelming. We couldn’t capture it all even if we wanted to, which is why the Gentiles experienced the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is why we experience the power of the Holy Spirit.
In what way have you experienced the immense gift of the Holy Spirit today?
As far as gifts go, God, you have outdone yourself. Through your Son, Jesus Christ, you revealed salvation to me by the power of the Holy Spirit. Help me to open the truth of that gift today. Amen.
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