They KNOW how to nap!...and find comfort! đ
Bible in a Year :
What can stand in the way of my being baptized?
Actress Sally Field finally felt what we all long for. When she won a second Oscar in 1985, she exclaimed in her acceptance speech: âIâve wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didnât feel it. But this time I feel it. And I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me.â
An Ethiopian eunuch was also amazed by his acceptance. As a gentile and as a eunuch, he was denied entrance into the templeâs inner courts (see Ephesians 2:11-12; Deuteronomy 23:1). Yet he yearned to be included. Philip found him returning from another unsatisfying pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Acts 8:27).
The Ethiopian man was reading Isaiah, which promised that eunuchs who âhold fast to my covenantâ will receive âwithin my temple and its walls a memorial and . . . an everlasting nameâ (Isaiah 56:4-5). How could this be? Then Philip âtold him the good news about Jesus,â and the man responded, âLook, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?â (Acts 8:35-36).
He was asking, Am I really allowed in? Do I belong? Philip baptized him as a sign that Jesus had bulldozed every barrier (Ephesians 2:14). Jesus embracesâand unitesâeveryone who turns from sin and puts their trust in Him. The man âwent on his way rejoicingâ (Acts 8:39). He finally and fully belonged.
Reflect & Pray
Why do all believers in Jesus belong in His family? How might baptism impress this fact on your heart?
Dear Jesus, I belong with God and His family because I belong to You.