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That tail is wagging; he waits by the door and can hardly contain his excitement. The magic words have been said, and he is all in.
“You want to go for a ride?”
Duke loves to go for rides. Sticking his head out the window, sniffing the fresh air, the feeling of the wind rushing in and making his gums flap – it’s the highlight of his week.
The door opens, and he dashes across the yard to the truck. He jumps in and is ready to go. He can’t wait.
He gets his chew bone, and I tell him, “We’re going to go see your friends at the vet.”
The reaction is immediate.
He stops chewing, drops the bone, and looks for the way out.
He thinks, “Nope. I’m not going back there. Last time, they gave me stitches in my ear and had it all taped up, making me look like Yoda. No way. Nuh-uh. Ain’t gonna do it!”
He was all in until I said that one word.
Acts 22:19-22
19 “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you.
20 And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’
21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'”
22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!”
Paul was declaring to the crowd at Jerusalem his testimony of his encounter with God. Many of the people in attendance followed after God. They were Jewish. They had been raised to learn and study the Torah. They followed all the laws. They were God’s chosen people.
But they didn’t know Jesus.
They refused to believe Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah they had long waited for.
But they found Paul’s story intriguing. They listened, agreed, and nodded together… until he said that one word.
Gentiles.
Nope. Absolutely not. They believed Gentiles were unclean, unacceptable, and unworthy of God’s favor.
They lost it when Paul shared that God had sent him to the Gentiles to share Jesus with them. They thought the only way out, the best way to end this, was to kill Paul.
As much as I want to believe that I am nothing like the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders who rejected Jesus, sometimes I read things like this, and my toes start hurting.
Is it just me?
We can be all in for Christ, singing His praises, going to church every time the doors are open, helping at every event, reading our Bible, and praying, but then we hear that one word… and we say, “No way. I’m not doing that.”
Maybe the word we hear the Lord say to us is
Forgive
Surrender “This”
Go
Disciple
Confess
Repent
Trust
It doesn’t mean these things will be easy, but if He has called us to it, He will prepare, equip, and be with us as we go.
To learn more about Jesus and what it means to follow Him, go to follow.lifeword.org.
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