It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

It was midnight and he was asleep after a long day. It had been messy, a near riot but he now had the two offenders in custody secure in stocks. Singing but secure in the stocks

Then the earthquake hit.

And everything fell apart.

Literally.

Doors swung open. Locks fell off. He just knew all the prisoners were gone. Disaster. No way he could catch them, and it would be him in those stocks.

He feels the sword at his side, heavy. An idea hits him, a bad idea. Better to go out easy on your sword, than at the hands of the prisoners… or the one that put them there.

Then a voice speaks out of the chaos, “Don’t do it, we are all here.”

“Lights”, he cries out. He must see it for himself. Could it be true? Sure enough there they sit.

What do you ask them? How? Why? What happened?

But for this Philippian jailer, there is only one question, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

For many folks, we never get to that question till the earthquake hits. Earthquakes don’t always come at the best time but there is something about that moment, that makes everything clear. When our world falls apart when death is right at our side, when our only thought is no hope at all.

The great news is that there is hope in that moment. A voice that calls out. An answer to the question “What must I do”?

Believe in Jesus. Make a change. Wash away your sins.

Desperation can turn to joy. Fear is replaced with hope. Chaos with purpose.

It might be midnight. The earthquake may have hit. He is the answer to the most important question. What will you do?

Comments

Until Midnight

In Acts 20, there is the tragicomic event surrounding a young man by the name of Eutychus. He did what a lot of folks before and after him did, he fell asleep during a sermon. Unfortunately, he was setting in in the third story window at the time. So instead of nodding off and hitting the pew in front of him, he fell to his death. The good news was the apostle Paul was delivering the sermon and had the ability to bring him back. I don’t know, however, if we can judge Eutychus too harshly. The sermon had gone on till midnight. Paul wouldn’t finish it up till daybreak. That’s a long lesson. I know some folks that might want to jump out of a window if I had a lesson that long, yet these Christians wanted to be there to hear Paul. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pushing for all night sermons but I think we might need to adopt these folks' dedication. They knew that Paul was only in town for a limited time only and they were determined to ...

The Mighty Gulf

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It is hard to find a place in New York City to park unless you are a United Nations diplomat. They park wherever they want. It’s not that they are allowed to but their diplomatic immunity keeps them from paying the cost. In one year alone the diplomats racked up 143,508 parking summonses, which would have cost them $15.8 million. Yet, because of the immunity, the punishments they incur are not enforced. So, they tend to park very badly Solomon recognized this tendency. In Ecclesiastes 8:11he writes; “ Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil .” If we do not pay for our wrongs quickly, we tend to think they are OK. This however is a terrible practice to have in our lives. In Romans 2:4-6, Paul warns us about the danger when we look at God’s tolerance and patience of our sin as acceptance. He warns it will make things worse for us in judgment since God wi...

Ecclesiastes 12:10

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