Devotion Acts 5:21b-25 Is You Is, Or Is You Not, His Baby?

Acts 5:21b-25 – When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. 22 But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24 On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.  25 Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.”

After an angel of the Lord freed the Apostles, they were back at the break of day to again proclaim the Gospel. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and filled with love for their Savior and Lord Jesus.  They had been watching God do amazing miracles and healings and touching people’s hearts and saving their souls.  The Apostles were humbled and delighted to be used of God.  They were not only willing to return to the steps where the Sanhedrin held power, but they looked forward to it.  God was their Provider, Protector and Savior and every day they saw the evidence of it.  How could they not remember back to when Jesus said “Come follow me and I will send you out to fish for people!” (Matthew 4:19)  If they had wondered before what He had meant by that they certainly no longer did.  Praise the Lord!

Another thing the Apostles didn’t do was procrastinate in getting out to share the Word.  The sun was up and they were champing at the bit to get started.  God had plans for them and they were excited to see what God, not themselves, would do.  Family, if we want to be used of God in small and big ways, then we need to be like a racehorse at the gate, straining forward to get the race going.  We need to not only desire to be used, but we need to be pushing on the door and spilling out into the world when it is opened.  We need to be ready, willing and have enough faith in God to do what He wants us to do when He wants us to do it.  Too often we use grace against the will of God for our lives.  We are lazy, or selfish, or procrastinate and figure that if we do something wrong then “Oh well, God will forgive me.”  God forbid, and yet I confess to this weakness also.  God didn’t give us grace to use against His will, but to free us to do it, and thereby bring joy to our souls.  Of course that has the prerequisite of loving Him more than self.  From our couch we can watch the television and see the great things God is doing.  Or we can hike a trail to an epic view and wonder at the beauty of God’s creation.  We can thank God before and after the game of tennis.  We can give time to these things, nothing inherently wrong with these, unless God really wants us doing something else.  Are we giving time to what He really wants us to do?  Family, being a Christian is being a participant, not an observer.

When the Sanhedrin got around to assembling they sent for the Apostles to be brought from jail to them.  The report came back that the Apostles were not in their cells.  The doors were securely locked just as when the Apostles were put inside them, but the cells were empty!  The Sanhedrin “were at a loss.”  They were completely discombobulated. None of them could explain what had happened or how it had happened.  Also they did not know what it meant.  They were so overwhelmingly at a loss that they didn’t know what was coming next or what they should do next.  After all that was going on, all the miracles and proofs of God surrounding the Apostles, they didn’t stop to think that maybe, just maybe, God had something to do with this?  How much in denial does one have to be in to not at least consider God has something to do with it?  Of my goodness, what a sad state they were in.  They were nonplussed!  They were so hard hearted that they didn’t even consider what should have been their first thought “God has done another miracle on their behalf.”

Finally someone came and reported that the Apostles were teaching the people in the temple courts.  Not court, courts.  They had spread out and were telling everyone they could of the Messiah of Israel, that He is Jesus. My how the Sanhedrin’s jaws must have dropped!  Family, we serve a jaw-dropping, awe inspiring God who will do the expected and the unexpected to express His love and grace to us.  Praise God!

Let’s be lovers of Jesus who strain every morning to be released to run the course set for us while being fully expectant that God will use those who love Him and are obedient to Him.  Family, God can use us with or against our will and understanding.  Being used by God because we want to be is so much better than being used by Him without understanding or the joy of it.  We are created to do His handiworks (Ephesians 2:10), let us be about doing them.  They are not onerous (Matthew 11:28-30).  “And whatever you do, whether in word of deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him!”