I enjoyed the reading today in Acts 10. Starting off by talking about Cornelius a captain of the Italian regiment. A Roman soldier, a gentile with no ties to the Jewish ways. Someone looked on by the Jewish people as not being worthy of God’s glory they were unclean and the Jewish laws actually forbid them to associate with them.
Acts 10:28 Peter told them, “You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean.
So it is interesting to hear Cornelius was such a God fearing person. After all he would not be accepted by the Jewish community and could not even enter the temple to worship God. However he still did what he could to honor and glorify God outside of the temple.
Acts 10:2 He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God.
What if we were outcast from the church and not able to attend or even associate with those that did go to church and worship God. How would this affect our faith and our attitude towards those that did? Would we still be honoring God outside the church walls? Are we even doing that today as we are allowed in the church? Perhaps this is the only place that we are honoring God. Maybe it would push our commitment to God to a new level if we were not accepted in the church. At the very least it would test our resolve in Him.
I can imagine this might have been what it was like for the Jewish devote that spend their time in worship and praise God there. Outside they just tried to make sure they followed the law that would help to keep them clean before the next worship service. Being very legalistic, as they would go about their lives honoring the law and not God. Although I am sure they thought they were honoring God by honoring the law they lost sight of what was important to God, that was others, ALL others that God had made.
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