On the Run

Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

--Acts 8:4  (NKJV)

From the daily Bible reading on February 24, 2013 of Psalm 38:13-22; Acts 8:4-40; Leviticus 13:24-14:32.

The young Pharisee Saul was going after these new Christians with a vengeance.  Accompanied by armed temple guards, he broke into homes and had men and women thrown into chains and arrested.  Fear and likely a certain amount of despair settled in among the disciples and followers of Jesus.  The disciples scattered and fled from Jerusalem, all except the apostles, who stayed behind to keep the church centered and alive in Jerusalem.  These were dire and dangerous times in the developing life of this new church, this growing family of Christ.  It could easily have been snuffed out like a fragile candle before ever burning brightly, and Saul was trying his best to do just that, to destroy this new Way before it could even get started.

But verse four tells us of what will become a wondrous turn of events.  While the disciples were fleeing, as they scattered and dispersed throughout the land, many probably running in fear of their very lives, they preached the word of God, the Good News about Jesus, everywhere they went.  They brought new believers to Christ with every stop they made, at every village and town, in homes and city squares.  They made more new converts than were being arrested and martyred.  Instead of stomping out the church in its infancy, Saul's rabid attacks on the church caused it to spread and grow far more widely and far quicker that it ever could have without that impetus!  And it also began what Saul would eventually continue after becoming Paul.  As the disciples scattered and preached, the word began reaching the Gentiles, and they also came to Christ.  The vast majority of Christians today owe our very faith to the actions of Saul and the plan of God, in scattering the disciples and them preaching the Gospel as they ran.  Praise be to God!  Amen.

Heavenly Father, You had a plan all along that the entire world, Jew and Gentile alike, be invited to the great feast Jesus promised.  You took these horrible actions by Saul, having innocent people arrested, beaten, and killed, and turned it into the greatest of good, allowing all the earth to know the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Thank You dear Lord for offering us eternal salvation.  In Jesus' beautiful name we pray.  Amen.