Good morning, everyone.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 10:3, “About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, ‘Cornelius.’”
When you come across something that is odd, weird, or doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, oftentimes there is something right along with it that is just as peculiar. Take, for example, the movie March of the Penguins. This film from 2005 records the journey of the emperor penguins across the South Pole to their breeding grounds, and then the ensuing trek of the mother penguin back to the sea for food for herself and her new hatchling. To say the action moved at a snail’s pace might be mixing metaphors, but essentially the 90-minute movie contained about 120 seconds of action. But as odd as it was for a motion picture about actual penguins to be made and shown in major movie theaters, equally odd was that megastar Morgan Freeman signed on to be the narrator of this nature film. Even more so, this surprisingly enjoyable film grossed over $125 million, a film which would have bored every school kid to tears were they forced to watch it in school. Now, to put that in perspective, consider that Woody Allen has made over forty films. And as acclaimed as his talents might be, and as big as his reputation is, his highest grossing movie made only $40 million at the box office. Even adjusted for decades of inflation, it still barely exceeds the penguins and Freeman’s voice.
I mention these oddities because some weird things happened to Cornelius that afternoon. But which is more unusual? His praying at 3:00 in the afternoon? That he had a clear vision of an angel? That the angel came into his house to speak to him by name? Or maybe that God seemed to be rewarding his prayers and alms despite his lack of knowledge of Jesus? You may be living a life more puzzling than you realize. Are you a believer yet can’t remember the last time you prayed at 3:00 pm? Are you indwelt by the Holy Spirit yet cannot handle the slightest imposition or irritation? Is God your all-powerful Creator yet you fret over the unknown or what could be coming? Is your Bible the source of truth directly from God and you eagerly read everything else but it? Call it weird, odd, inconsistent, or a cause for concern. But if things don’t exactly line up, it’s likely time to pay them some attention.
As we seek Him today, measure your walk with Christ with the walk of Christ. Seek to be His reflection rather than perplexing.
Have a grand Thursday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
