Devo Acts 28

Chapter 28
23They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers
to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and
declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from
the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. 24Some were convinced by what he said,
but others would not believe. 25They disagreed among themselves and began to
leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to
your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet: 26” ‘Go to this people
and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing
but never perceiving.” 27For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly
hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with
their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would
heal them.’ 28”Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to
the Gentiles, and they will listen!” 30For two whole years Paul stayed there in his
own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. 31Boldly and without
hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Meditation:
1. Paul spent two years of imprisonment in Rome welcoming everyone who
came to his house. Acts began with a crucifixion turned into a resurrection.
There had been imprisonments, beatings, martyrdoms – not just for Paul but
for many members of the early church. There had been open threats and
secret intrigues. And there had been the more subtle danger of compromise
– the pressure to be drawn back into Jewish ritual, absorbed into the old rule
keeping. Through it all, the gospel of Christ was spread to the world. Every
attempt to confine it, to compromise it, to muffle it, to reject it was finally
ineffective. It spread from the center of the world in Rome through the far
reaches of the globe.
2. Acts closes with this image: Paul, opening his home and his heart, preaches
boldly and without hindrance to all comers without. As he has received
hospitality, he offers it to “all who came to him.” As “God shows no partiality”
(10:34), God’s messengers must be similarly inclusive.
3. Pray that God will help me to offer hospitality to all who came to me and to
show no partiality just as God does.

Personal Note:
Let's welcome all people and then proclaim the message of the kingdom of God and teach about the Lord Jesus Christ with boldness and without hindrance.