April 7, 2011 - Acts 17:23

“’For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with the inscription: To An Unknown God. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.’” Acts 17:23. In his travels, Paul journeyed to Athens, where he was brought to the Areopagus to tell about Jesus and His resurrection. As he was beginning his message, Paul spoke of the many objects of Athenian worship and of the specific one to the Unknown God. With all the gods that they worshipped, the Athenians made sure to cover all their bases. They made an altar for the Unknown God in case they happened to miss any gods along the way. Paul picked up right there in his effort to make known to the Athenians that which was previously unknown. Paul connected what was around him with that which was all he had to offer – the goods news concerning Jesus. Paul didn’t have anything else of importance to share with these people. All he desired to do was to declare who Jesus was and to proclaim the power of His resurrection. I must admit that there have been times when I have stayed away from sharing the message of Jesus and His resurrection. Whether out of fear or some other reason, I found other issues or subjects to talk about rather than Jesus. “Who do you want to win the Masters (Golf) Tournament?” “What about what’s happening in the Middle East?” “Hasn’t the weather been terrible this winter?” Yet, when it comes to talking about the most important issue, I have clammed up with people who desperately needed to hear the good news about Jesus. Perhaps I can learn from Paul and how he related what was happening around him to his most important message. Questions to consider: Is the message of Jesus and His resurrection the most important message in your life? If this is so, how do you relate the message to those around you? If not, why not? Prayer: Father, thank You for the message of Your Son, Jesus, and the importance it holds in my life. Please give me strength to boldly share this message to those around me who desperately need to hear it. Amen.