Acts 8:4-25 | God Uses Bad Opportunitiesಮಾದರಿ

Back to Simon.

We met him earlier in Acts 8. As one who practices sorcery, people trembled at his power and identified him as a great power of God. But it was no match for what Christ was doing through Philip, or Peter or John. As a man of power, he recognized power, and it seems he wanted a piece of that action too.

Simon showed a great deal of interest in the gospel message and Philip’s miracles, so much so that he believed and was baptized. But we start to see that his motives are mixed. As a man of power who wanted power, he offered Peter money so he too could have the ability to give the Holy Spirit.

The irony is that the Spirit was not Peter’s to give. The power was always God’s, just working through him. The greater irony is that that power to be a vehicle through whom the Holy Spirit can come to people is available to anyone proclaiming the good news of Jesus. And it’s given freely! But Simon just didn’t quite get it.

The good news of Jesus flies in the face of how the world operates. It can’t be earned. It can’t be bought. It does not go to the highest bidder. It is free. It is for everyone. And at most all we can say is that it has to be humbly received, which means realizing it can’t be earned, it can’t be bought, and that it will not come to me if I put enough down. It is mine when I accept that I have nothing to give for it. It is a gift of God from him alone.

Simon’s motive was muddied. Perhaps it was superficial and selfish. Or maybe he desired power and prestige over humans more than the actual substance of Jesus’s good news itself. Simon’s motive was wrong and Peter rebuked him for it. His heart was not right. Peter talks about things like wickedness, sinful thoughts, bitterness, and captivity to sin. It’s an easy place to find yourself in. A dangerous place to remain.

God wants hearts to be humble. Where might you need to repent of mixed motives?