27 October 2010 Devotion for Today "In Sync" Acts 18:1-7
And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”
So they said, “Into John’s baptism.”
4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all. (Acts 18:1-7)
I have a button on my new cell phone with this command- "Sync". It is pronounced "sink" and its purpose is to bring up to date all of my data (on my computer, internet, cell phone and other devices) up to date with all my data bases holding my cell numbers, addresses, contacts, and calendars. When I push this button, I wont have to worry about finding, for example, a calendar on another device that I need to update. It does it all automatically through the internet.
I realize that I probably lost about half of you. Indeed I'm not sure I can comprehend it all myself, much less explain it. Syncing is a time-saving feature that is a necessary feature in all modern methods of mass communications. Without it, none of us would be able to keep up with the lightening-fast advances in technology and information processing. Its as difficult to keep pace with oneself as it is trying to keep up with others now since the advent of social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook. In fact, one has to be careful about Tweeting also. You can harmlessly send an update about the health (or demise) of someone before appropriate family members have even been notified. Just another one of those awkward problems that the mass communication industry has not helped us work through yet.
First-century communications were just as awkard- if not in reverse. Following the encounter with Apollos in Acts 17, Paul makes his way to Ephesus and finds a group of Christ-followers who do not seem to know anything about the Holy Spirit. Apparently, Apollos and several others experienced the same problem until others more knowledgeable came to correct them. Their spiritual ignorance, or at least their ignorance of the Holy Spirit is not surprising. People lived in extreme isolation from one another in those days. Even with the improved highway system of the Romans, mass communication was difficult, if not impossible. Dissemination of ideas took decades to filter through even as other ideas were coming to the surface. It was difficult to maintain consistency to "sync" all of the words, ideas, concerns and updates that comprised the common faith. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit maintained that consistency as the Gospel message circulated. This passage shows us how the Holy Spirit, through Paul's preaching, did just that. Even though there were times when errors and aberrant theological ideas came to the surface, I have always been amazed how the Holy Spirit unified and strengthened these fledgling churches into such a mighty force for Jesus Christ in the midst of such a backward civilization. Modern technology may have helped spread ideas but it certainly has not solved the problem of spiritual ignorance that many people express today. Thankfully, we still have our ability to read our Bibles and to pray which enables us to stay in sync with God- allowing the Holy Spirit to do the same work of teaching, discipling and unifying as He did 2000 years ago.
Are you "in sync" with the Holy Spirit? Drop what you are doing right now and hit that "sync" button right now.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I admit right now that I find myself not in "sync" with you. It is not because I do not possess the technology, but rather the will to do so. Help me overcome this today, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Have a blessed day!
