Thought for Friday,14 July

Acts 1:20

“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: “‘May his place be deserted;

let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, “‘May another take his place of leadership.’

When the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives after the ascension of Jesus, they were in the upper room when Peter suggested that it was time to find a replacement for Judas Iscariot. It had to be someone who had been with them since the start. They nominated two men, Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then, knowing God knows all hearts, they prayed for Him to show them which one they should choose.

Although many people regard Peter as the leader of this group, I think they all had equal roles, but Peter was the one Jesus tasked with founding His church. The disciples were all killed for preaching the resurrection of Christ and leading people to Jesus.

We are not usually asked to give our lives to lead people to Jesus, but the disciples did this. Even now people lose their lives because of their belief in Christ. We read at least a couple of times each month about a leader of a group of Christians somewhere in the world being killed for preaching the faith.

In fact, I read recently about a pastor who visited a Christian group somewhere in the Asian continent. When he started to speak to them, he was amazed to find some of them knew the bible by heart. Because they were often imprisoned for having any part of scripture, their visitors would bring them a page at a time, so they were able to memorise chapters before the pages were found.

When the people told him they wished they lived in America, he told them he was glad they didn’t because they had all walked at least 13 miles to be there, they were sitting on a bare floor with one ear listening to the talk and the other primed for a raid by the authorities.

If we had leaders as dedicated to our spiritual health as those in dangerous places, we would surely be filled and overflowing with the holy Spirit.

 

Prayer

Father in heaven, thank You for those who reach out to the brothers and sisters in places where Christianity is illegal. Those leaders who spread Your word among those who hunger and thirst for Jesus and need a leader to guide them in the way He Himself taught. A leader who is as committed as they are and willing to defy other religions in order to carry Your word to all. Let Your Spirit work in them and in us, filling us with Your love and Your will. Amen