Words of Life: 5 Days in Acts 8Sample

Day 2: The Lord loves individuals

Read Acts 8:4-8 and Acts 8:26-29

Meet Philip! In Acts 6:1-6, Philip was one of seven people tasked with looking after the practical needs of the church. Driven out of Jerusalem by persecution, Philip takes the gospel to Samaria (8:4). He finds huge crowds waiting for him, ready to listen and receive the news of Jesus with great joy (8:5-8). It’s a wonderful fulfillment of the great Old Testament promises to bring Samaria back into relationship with God.

So what next for Philip? A different city and more incredible healings? No! Acts 8:26-40 couldn't be more different: a one-to-one meeting between two people who have never met, in the middle of the desert.

Philip is told by an angel of the Lord to head south on the desert road (8:26). As he goes, he is directed to a man from Ethiopia, sitting in his chariot. The man is important and wealthy: he's the Chief Finance Minister of his country. He is someone who fears God, who has been to Jerusalem to worship at the temple (8:27). But he has a problem: he wouldn't have been allowed into the inner courts of the temple because he is a eunuch (a castrated man – something that was often done to men who served in royal courts). He is outside of God’s people, with no way to be included. He’s now heading back home, reading from the prophet Isaiah in his chariot.

This is clearly a God-appointed meeting. The desert road is the last place you’d expect to find someone trying to understand the Old Testament or to meet someone able to explain it. The Ethiopian man is just one individual, but the Lord is pleased to work in his life and bring to him just the right person at the right time. Notice that this one-to-one meeting gets a longer record in the Book of Acts than the conversion of hundreds or thousands in the city of Samaria.

We can't assume that an angel will tell us to go on a particular road or take us to an Ethiopian chariot. But we can ask the Lord to show us the people He is putting across our paths, to open our eyes to the opportunities we have. He loves the people around us and has plans for them too. What might be our part in their journey to faith?

To think and pray through:

• Who has the Lord put across my path that I could pray for opportunities to share the gospel with?
• How can I keep my eyes open for such God-appointed meetings?