Pointed Questions

Reading: Acts 19

"And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" Acts 19:3

Examination:

Paul had the courage to ask the men in this chapter a couple pointed questions. The men to whom he spoke had the courage to give honest responses. The result of this conversation was a group of men being ignited by the Holy Spirit.

Application;

The first thing I need to take away from this passage is that I need to be honest with myself. Why pretend? Why fake it? I am where I am and I only know what I know. Christians are the world's worst at pomp and circumstance. We learn at an early age to give the right answers even when we do not believe them. We sing the right songs even when we do not feel them. We quote scripture even when we do not understand them. This is useless. The best thing in the world for my discipleship is to be honest about where I am. As I humble myself to admit my shortcomings, doubts, questions, and failures I open myself up to new revelations about God and His incredible work inside of me.

The second thing I need to learn from this passage is that I need to have Pauls in my life. Iron sharpens iron. God did not design me to live the life of Christ alone. I must ensure that I constantly keep myself surrounded by men who are willing to risk their relationship with me in order to ask me difficult questions that sharpen my faith. Life is too short and mistakes are far to painful to risk not having the eyes of another watching my back.

Prayer:

Father I want all of You that I can have. I pray that You open the eyes of my heart to see my shortcomings, empower me to understand the gifts that You have given me, and ignite me to live my life sold out for Your mission. I pray that You continue to give the Pauls in my life the wisdom and courage they need to speak the truth to me in love. Help me always find the humility I need to accept the truth in their encouragements.