Good morning, friends.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 6:11, “Then they secretly induced men to say, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.’”
Even this morning, with the first person I encountered after leaving the house, I had to consciously consider what I was going to say. Right off the bat I was tempted to say things that were not positive or productive, and they certainly weren’t necessary. But given a few moments to pause and think, I was able to imagine Jesus standing there in my position and envision what He might say and not say. And as the Spirit would have it, I was able to allow Him to show forth rather than spout off something that first came to mind. But having faced that battle, which will present itself again and again for each of us until we lie down for the night, I then thought about it in light of the claims of the provokers from today’s scripture, who said that Stephen had made blasphemous remarks about Moses and God. And so I wondered in what form and manner do you and I produce blasphemies against our God and King? We do not claim that there is another God besides the one true, triune God, who sent His Son Jesus to earth to live, die, and rise again to redeem a lost and cursed humanity. We don’t deny who and what Jesus claimed about Himself and His place. So do we ever stumble and commit blasphemy against our Lord?
The dictionary would say we do if we act or speak in a sacrilegious way about God or sacred things. But if we’re comfortable in eliminating God as the offended, then what about His sacred things? What falls under the umbrella of sacred? The New Testament, Protestant, evangelical church of today doesn’t put much emphasis on any sort of things that might be sacred, perhaps as a (over)reaction to what we see the Roman Catholic church do. But I think all of us would agree that God making man in His image, breathing life into him, and sending Jesus in his form to suffer and save him marks humans as being sacred in some way. To be the only one of all creation to have that distinction should carry some weight. And if that’s so, then we must consider how we act or speak to and about His sacred ones. For it is in those moments that our relationship with our Father is put on display, and not just for others to see. God Almighty is also interested in what is being said about Him and His handiwork.
As we seek Him today, let your actions and words do nothing to bring sacrilege to our holy God.
Have a magnificent weekend.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
