Begin with two minutes of stillness and silence before God.

In this section of Chapter 19, the author of Acts, Luke, records three events that give us a glimpse of what God was doing through Paul as he preached the scriptures in Ephesus. We read that disciples of John the Baptist come to faith in Christ as Paul shares with them. We see Paul teaching large groups of people in a lecture hall, which scripture says he did daily for two whole years. We also read in verse 11 that “extraordinary miracles” were being done by God through His servant Paul. Even items touched by Paul are exuding God’s power and healing sickness. Truly extraordinary! One group tries to replicate Paul’s ministry by casting out evil spirits apart from the Holy Spirit and it doesn’t turn out well for them. Through all of the events in this passage, Christ is exalted and people turn from their sins and come to faith surrendering their hearts to Christ.

Verses 18-20 show us an example of the power of salvation in the heart of a believer. We read that new believers were confessing and repenting of their sins and bringing their books of monetary value to be destroyed by burning them. Not only were they giving up dark practices, but they were making sure that no one else adopted these practices through these books. In this culture, these books could’ve been sold or traded for money or other items and those giving them up to be burned could likely have benefited from selling or trading them; however, the transformative work of the gospel had them willing to give these things up without monetary gain in return to bring an end to their sin. Charles Spurgeon writes, "The burning of these books was a mighty sermon to everybody who saw it, a better sermon than even Paul himself could have preached on the subject.” The expression of obedience by these believers spoke volumes to everyone around them. Verse 20 says that “the Word of the Lord flourished and prevailed” as the Ephesian church continued to grow.

As you read this passage today, you might have things come to mind in your own life that stand against Christ and Scripture that need to be destroyed. Be quick to lay those things down, even if it’s costly. When Paul writes to these same Ephesians, he’ll tell them to “take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth (Ephesians 4:22-24 CSB)."  When we come to salvation in Christ, there truly should be some sort of burning of the books like these early Christians experienced; however, there’s also a daily laying down of the old self and experiencing renewal by the power of the Holy Spirit working within our hearts. As we obey Christ, people around us will see Him glorified and that’s the greatest thing we could hope to do with our lives.

Take two minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Take time to talk with God about what’s hindering you in your walk with Him so that you might recognize your sin and repent.
• Create a memory for yourself concerning your repentance today by doing something tangible like writing the sin in your journal along with a prayer of repentance that you can look back on during times when you are tempted or weak.
  
• Praise the Lord for how He has delivered you from a life of sin. How has He changed you? How has He changed others around you? Give Him glory for these things.