God knows how to make life interesting by surprising His followers. Peter had no desire to minister to Gentiles. After receiving the Holy Spirit, he traveled around Palestine where he shared the gospel of Jesus with fellow Jews. In Lydda, he healed Aeneas who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed. (Acts 9:33b NKJV) In Joppa, he raised Dorcas from the dead and presented her alive to the saints and widows. (9:41b)
When he was in Joppa, however, life changed. While staying with Simon the tanner and waiting for dinner one evening, he went up on the housetop to pray and fell into a trance. (10:9a,10a)
God spoke to Peter in the trance, and the message was couched in food. But its significance extended beyond food into every aspect of life: What God has cleansed you must not call common. (10:15b)
Peter had always lived an observant Jewish lifestyle. He resisted the message because it offended practices he'd learned as a child and lived as an adult. But when Gentiles came seeking his help, he capitulated: "God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean." (10:28b)
Only God can bring about deep, abiding change in people. Peter's worldview was forever altered; he had to leave his former mindset behind.
Originally published June 12, 1992.
Moving Time
14 years ago
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