The Healing Jesus: An Advent Devotional to Encourage Anybody and EverybodySample

APOLLOS: THE ONE WHO WAS BOLD

I'm Apollos, a Jewish missionary. Please don't confuse me with Apollo, a Greek mythical god of the sun and light. No, but I am a bold witness of Jesus Christ! I'm from Alexandria and spent years reading the Scriptures so that by the time I started speaking in the synagogues, I knew the way of the Lord.

But I am getting a little ahead of myself. Let me go back to the beginning. While studying scripture, I resonated with John the Baptist. When I read of how he lived so differently from others, so sold out for the gospel, I wanted to be like that. He was courageous. John was the first to announce that the kingdom of God was here. No one else was talking like that about Jesus. He wanted to prepare the way as best as possible for when Jesus came.

That is the cry of my heart, to prepare the way for people to receive the message of Jesus. So, I began teaching as boldly as I knew how. The problem was that I didn't understand the whole story. Thank goodness for an amazing couple, Priscilla and Aquila. They took me in and mentored me. I am eternally grateful for their patience and wisdom. They helped me see that while John's baptism was a repentance act, a baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus is a salvation act. Jesus is the one who does the work for us. Now, we can be a part of this Kingdom of God here and now. It isn't enough to just be repentant and sorry for your sins. Jesus didn't just save us from our sins; he saved us for a new life in him!

Through Priscilla and Aquila, I met Paul the Apostle and other great teachers. I can describe our relationship like this: Paul planted, and I got to water, but ultimately, God grew the church. Paul and I worked very closely together, sometimes traveling on missionary trips together, and other times, Paul sent me on to churches to teach and encourage. But as I encourage them, they also help me and make sure I lack nothing. I am thankful to be a bold but humble witness to the work of telling people the good news of Jesus.

Jesus is healing through your bold actions.

Questions for Talk it Over:

1. What was it that Apollos needed some help on?

2. Rank your boldness on a scale of 1-10. Why that number?

3. What area in your life can you be more bold?