SCRIPTURE: Acts 16 

KEY POINTS TO PONDER: The story in Acts 16 is truly incredible. What started out as a vision Paul received from God turned into this crazy journey involving a rich business woman, a slave girl, and a prison guard who all come to experience and turn to Jesus, beginning the church in Philippi. Imagine if Paul hadn’t listened to that vision which Jesus gave him (v. 9), or if the disciples hadn’t been attentive and listening to the Holy Spirit guidance on which places not to visit yet (v. 7). They would have missed out on this amazing opportunity to bring the gospel to a place desperately in need of the good news of Jesus. As Christians, we don’t need to be seeking some miraculous vision on a daily basis, or to see words in the sky saying “Go to this school” or “Take this job,” but we should expect that God wants to and plans to speak into our lives and call us to different places and tasks. When God does speak to us, we need to have hearts that are attentive to hear and believe and hearts that are willing to obey that call or direction God gives to us, just as the disciples did. 

CHALLENGING TERMS: In verse 3, we see Paul has Timothy circumcised before bringing him on his missionary journey. And yet, in the previous chapter, Paul and Barnabas argue vehemently against the fact that you need to be circumcised to be saved. Why is this? Well, if Timothy was going to be preaching and sharing the gospel to other Jews in other places, it would have hindered the Jews from listening to him if he weren’t circumcised. So circumcision here wasn’t an act to make Timothy right before God, but an act that would allow Timothy to more effectively share the gospel. 

REFLECTION: Is your heart open to hear from God and obey him right now if He were to call you to a place or task? What can you do to nurture that attentiveness and obedience to God? 

PRAYER: Father, thank you that we can trust you to direct our steps even when we don’t fully understand what you are up to in the moment. 

Pray for God to give you a sensitivity to the Spirit and to His leading in your life.