We all once lived a life apart from God. We tried to fill the God-void in our hearts with the things of this world. That looked different for each one of us. We’ve all had our own stuff — baggage, sin, or whatever you want to call. It’s the stuff we have dealt with and may even still deal with today.
In Acts, we see Paul roll into Ephesus and preach the Word. BOLDLY. Many people became Believers, confessed their sinful practices, and then decided it would be best to completely change their lives. They knew they couldn’t live a life fully devoted to God and still practice sins from their old life.
“Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars.” — Acts 19:18-19 (NLT)
How are we dealing with stuff from our past? How are you doing? Are there still practices from your past that you believe are too valuable to completely give up? You know, books that were produced in Biblical times were handmade. They would have cost tens of thousands of dollars and would have taken years to produce. The new Believers knew this and yet they didn’t compromise. They didn’t say, “Let’s sell these because they are worth a ton of money.” No, they knew the damage the books could do. They wanted them destroyed. Luke writes that they confessed their sinful practices and burned their books publicly. That meant there was no way they could try and lie about what they were doing. They wanted others to know what choices they were making.
They understood the value of a changed life in Christ.
Think about the things that you are still holding on to. What is it that you need to give up?
Tony
Posted in A Word from the Pastor