Acts 10:17-23 (NIV)
While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”
The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.”
Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
In the wake of the vision He had given Peter, preparing him to set aside his anti-gentile prejudices, God did two things to make the teaching stick. First, He gave Peter an immediate opportunity to put what he had learned into practice. Second, He let Peter know that HE was the one who was orchestrating these events.
Normally, if a couple of gentiles had shown up at Peter’s door, one of them a Roman soldier, claiming that God had sent them, Peter would have been slow to accept that as a fact, since it was commonly held that God only spoke to or through Jews, and then only to or through those who were ceremonially clean. And, of course, gentiles were excluded on both counts.
But God worked on Peter in advance of the situation, sending the vision to prepare his mind, and then speaking to him to help release his heart, since he was already committed to obey God no matter what He commanded.
Peter was so caught up by the vision God had shown him, wondering what it meant, that the voices of those calling for him at the gate barely penetrated his consciousness. So, God spoke directly to him, letting him know that He had sent these three men to fetch him, that God had called those men “clean”, so he should not hesitate to go with them.
Peter instantly obeyed, listening carefully to the story that the men told about Cornelius, who he was and what he had experienced, and about their mission to come and fetch him under the angel’s specific direction. Peter’s immediate response was to invite the men to eat with him, and to stay in the house with him until they all left the next day, none of which would have been considered proper to him even an hour earlier.
Father, even after we have come to You for salvation, even after we have followed You for several years, as Peter had, You continue to work in us to mold and shape us, to rid us of old prejudices and wrong ways of thinking, so that we are shaped into more and more useful tools for Your hand. Help me, Lord, to never pull back from Your shaping of me, inside and out. Help me to never fall into the trap of believing that I’m as good as I can get, or as good as I need to be. Instead, help me to not only be open to Your work of transformation, but to enthusiastically partner with You as You shape, and mold, and polish my heart, until it looks just like the heart of Jesus. Amen.
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