Scripture Verse that Caught my attention today: Acts 2:46-47 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Observation: I am most struck by the phrase “having the goodwill of all the people. I’m not sure if that means that everyone thought well of them or whether they thought well of everyone else. Either way it must have been pretty good.
Application: As humans it’s hard to be totally liked and it’s hard to totally like. There are almost always some people who think ill of us, who feel we are up to something or otherwise a swindled. By the same token, it’s hard to have complete good will for others too. We worry about being taken advantage of or we struggle with our own sense of envy. Perhaps this is why elsewhere the Scriptures say that no-one is righteous. It’s part of our sinful condition. A portion of the ill that others think about us is actually true.
Still, it’s nice to see in the passage above a glimpse of what life in the Spirit can be like. Like communion, it’s a foretaste of the feast to come.
Prayer: Lord, help us to both offer and receive more goodwill. Yet let us also be mindful that such good-will is not so much deserved as it is gracefully given and received. Just like you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Readings today included: Nehemiah 9-10 and Acts 2)
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