Miracle on a Desert Road
Opening Prayer
Loving Lord, to know You is life itself. Grant me the freshness of perspective in the difficult situations of my life.
Read Acts 8:26–40
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
We need to be so spiritually in tune with the Holy Spirit that we recognize divine appointments.
Think Further
This highly placed Ethiopian was a God-fearer who had made the long and perilous journey to worship in Jerusalem. On the basis of Deuteronomy 23:1 he would not have been allowed into the Temple because he was a eunuch. His devotion was amply rewarded, however, as he turned out to be among the first fruit of God’s promise to give to eunuchs who choose to do what pleases him “a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters… [and] an everlasting name that will endure forever” (Isa. 56:4,5). This glorious privilege is for Gentile Christians too. Like eunuchs, we were also excluded and could not go beyond the Court of the Gentiles, but we are now free to enter boldly into the most holy place by the blood of Jesus (Acts 21:28,29; Eph. 3:6).
We do not know whether the exodus of the believers from Jerusalem meant that Philip’s job in serving the widows was no longer required, or whether he and his colleagues had so organized it that their actual presence was not needed, but Philip seems to have become a full-time itinerant evangelist. He must have been acutely sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, leaving a place of fruitful ministry for a lonely desert road. Led to the right place at the right time, he was welcomed by this stranger who was reading the right place in the right scroll—so Philip could lead him to salvation in Jesus Christ through the Old Testament Scriptures. The Holy Spirit still leads in such amazing ways today. Oh that we may be attentive and ready to follow, whether he leads us to lonely desert roads or to inner cities bustling with needy souls!
Apply
What is the relationship between divine preparation and human initiative in this story? How can you grow in your faith so that you will be prepared for similar opportunities?
Closing prayer
Merciful Lord, use me, I pray, to point others to You. Show me where I need to strengthen my faith and sensitize me to divine opportunities for witness.
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