Called From the Many to the One

"Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, 'Go south to the road - the desert road - that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' so he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, 'Go to that chariot and stay near it.'

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. 'Do you understand what you are reading?' Philip asked.

'How can I,' he said, ' unless someone explains it to me?' so he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: 'He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.'

The eunuch asked Philip, 'Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?' Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus." Acts 8:26-35 NIV

God called Philip from "the many" of the crowds to just one, the Ethiopian. Don't you love that reminder? Often we become so enamored with numbers, particularly large numbers, that we lose sight of our true commission - to share the Gospel of Christ, one person at a time. (Jesus has no grandchildren, only children.) Being called to share the Gospel with such an unlikely person as an Ethiopian, was an enigma, yet Philip just moved forward in obedience to his call of that minute, and God did the rest. Since Scripture says the Ethiopian was "an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians," we know he had a huge arena of influence. Once he became a Christian, he would be touching many future lives for the glory of God. Through the salvation of one, "the many" would still be touched in the future.

God was already working in the heart of the Ethiopian through the words of Isaiah. I love this reminder of how powerful the word of God was and is, and it IS powerful from the first word of Genesis through the last word of Revelation. We should NEVER think that God's word is not enough. It alone is sufficient; it alone is God's power and conviction unto salvation.

Our part is to walk alongside "the one" for THE ONE, searching out the Scriptures, explaining them to the best of our abilities, and counting on the help of the Holy Spirit. Is this not a stellar reminder to continually be in God's word, to continually be associating with great teachers (so we are not misled by false teachings, and so we are capable of explaining the Scriptures when we are called to do so)?

Dear Father, thank you for the privilege of seeking out the one to share THE ONE. Remind me often of my commission and prepare him or her in advance to hear your powerful word. Let me never become lazy or complacent about sharing Jesus, even with the unlikely. In His Name I pray. Amen.