On the day when God led me to the local Bible college, I was 21. I stood before the dean of admissions and explained to him that I had nothing to bring to the table… no school accomplishments, terrible grades, and no family status in the community. As I stood there, he looked at me and asked, “Then why do you want to come here?” I said, “I believe God wants me to come here.” I’ll never forget his answer… “Well then, if this is God, we won’t stand in His way.” How thankful I am that they did NOT stand in God’s way.
A similar thing happened in the book of Acts. God was about to unveil and bring to fulfillment His GREAT redemptive purposes… extending the gospel to the Gentiles. In Acts 10 and 11, God will use a Jewish man – a disciple-turned-apostle (Peter) and a righteous Roman officer (Cornelius) to do it. Cornelius was not a normal Roman officer. He was a seeker after the God of the Jews. He actively sought God, revered God, extended generosity, and he prayed. He was well respected in his town by everyone, Jews and Gentiles.
Peter loved Jesus but he was also steeped in Jewish law… a law that said the Gentiles were unclean and that they were to stay their distance from them. In fact, it was against Jewish law to enter a Gentile home. But as the story continues, two things happened simultaneously… Peter had a vision from God showing him that what God had called unclean is now clean, and Cornelius had a visit by an angel telling him to send some men and retrieve a man who was in Joppa. I’ve been pondering this story for three days now. Peter goes with the men and in this Roman household the gospel and the Holy Spirit is poured out to all those gathered.
The story continues… as news reached the believers in Jerusalem, they were upset that Peter would enter a Gentile home. So, they call Peter in to get his story. He tells them exactly what happened and then he said, “Since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way” (Acts 11:17)? What a great response. Then we read, “When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God” (Acts 11:18).
I thought about these two men… two men from different walks of life – one a wealthy officer who wielded great power and one a poor former fisherman. But what God saw was Cornelius’ seeking heart and Peter’s willingness to put his yes on the table. This is what God used to bring forth His ultimate plan… salvation to EVERYONE.
Then I thought about you and me. There are many things in our lives that can stand in the way of God doing His great work. It might be our opinions, our prejudices, our agenda, our theology we grew up with, or our legalistic ways. And for sure, it could be sin. This morning I wondered if God wanted to do a bigger work in me but maybe there’s something hindering Him from doing it. So, I put my hands out to Him… I told Him that I want to be like Cornelius… just wanting to know more. I want a seeking heart. And I want to be like Peter… putting everything aside in order to put my yes on the table. I said, “Lord, I want to be YOUR vessel.” Maybe God has His biggest work yet in your life as well. Would you offer yourself to Him as a vessel even if you have to lay aside anything standing in the way and seek Him with your whole heart? Are you willing to say YES Lord? Let’s do this together.