Key Verse:
"Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
(Acts 10:15)
Central Truth:
A life in God is available to us every day.
Something So Important, Yet So Simple
Unfortunately, judgment and prejudice often influence how we view others. As we see in Acts 10, years of Jewish training had taught Peter that some people were acceptable, some tolerable, and others were to be avoided altogether. This even translated into his views about what was appropriate for animal sacrifice and consumption.
Prejudice and intolerance can hurt and destroy. Consider the opposite. Lives can be changed if we choose to show tolerance and care to those who might seem "inadequate." That was the lesson God taught Peter that day in Joppa, when he showed Peter a net of animals and ordered him to kill and eat them. When Peter objected, saying he had never consumed anything impure or unclean, God told him not to call anything impure that God had made clean. This vision was a lesson to show Peter that the good news of Jesus' sacrificial love is for all people, whether Jew or Gentile. This was a revelation to Peter, who had been taught to distance himself from all non-Jews.
Isn't it wonderful to know that the blessings of God are available to anyone who accepts them? We don't have to dress, speak, or live a certain way. We don't have to be descendants of a certain lineage. We don't have to go to a special location to receive his blessings. God is within our grasp every day. He enters into our hearts, cleanses our souls, and is the impetus of our lives. Only a loving father would make something like that so simple for us.
"Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
(Acts 10:15)
Central Truth:
A life in God is available to us every day.
Something So Important, Yet So Simple
Unfortunately, judgment and prejudice often influence how we view others. As we see in Acts 10, years of Jewish training had taught Peter that some people were acceptable, some tolerable, and others were to be avoided altogether. This even translated into his views about what was appropriate for animal sacrifice and consumption.
Prejudice and intolerance can hurt and destroy. Consider the opposite. Lives can be changed if we choose to show tolerance and care to those who might seem "inadequate." That was the lesson God taught Peter that day in Joppa, when he showed Peter a net of animals and ordered him to kill and eat them. When Peter objected, saying he had never consumed anything impure or unclean, God told him not to call anything impure that God had made clean. This vision was a lesson to show Peter that the good news of Jesus' sacrificial love is for all people, whether Jew or Gentile. This was a revelation to Peter, who had been taught to distance himself from all non-Jews.
Isn't it wonderful to know that the blessings of God are available to anyone who accepts them? We don't have to dress, speak, or live a certain way. We don't have to be descendants of a certain lineage. We don't have to go to a special location to receive his blessings. God is within our grasp every day. He enters into our hearts, cleanses our souls, and is the impetus of our lives. Only a loving father would make something like that so simple for us.
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