Corona Devo 1545

In a hurry as usual, I texted my neighbor to ask if she had any story books I could borrow to read to my friends at the local nursing home yesterday.  I was due there in an hour.

Coming through, just like a BFF always does, she showed up almost immediately with a selection of stories.  One that I read aloud to the group was about a family from Japan that moved to Canada.  They brought a cherry tree seed with them from Japan and planted it at their new house.  

After a few years passed at their new house, (apparently) they were no longer welcome in their neighborhood (or Country) due to world events.  They were ostracized and forced to move.  They left their home and the cherry tree without wanting to.

Years later, the little brother and sister in the story had grown up, and grown old, and they came back to Canada to see their old house...and there also was their beloved cherry tree.  

It was a bittersweet story (with beautiful illustrations), but I really didn't understand the context or why they had to move.  

But then...how could I, unless someone explains it to me?

Wouldn't you know it, one of the ladies sitting with us at the nursing home could explain it.  She recalled a teacher who had taught them about Japanese people being displaced between 1942 and 1945, when the US and Canadian governments established Japanese internment camps in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. 

The British Columbia (Canada) Japanese population of approximately 22,000 were forced into internment camps throughout the interior.  In order to finance the internment of the Japanese Canadians and to permanently discourage them from returning to the coast, the federal government confiscated their agricultural property and personal possessions and allowed them to be auctioned off or sold at low prices (~Legislative Assembly of British Columbia).

She also recalled that the cherry trees planted near our Capitol building in Columbus (OH) are a tribute to the poor treatment of Japanese people during the 1940's.  

I never knew that.  I had (just) read the storybook, but I needed the words further explained.  

~~~

The experience made me think of the Bible.  So many people don't read it, but if only they could understand it...they might!

And many people do read the Bible, but they sometimes need the words further explained.  

Just ask Philip.

~~~

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (27) So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopia eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, (28) and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. (29) The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”  

(30) Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.  

(31) “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 

(32) This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  (33) In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.  Who can speak of his descendants?  For his life was taken from the earth.”  

(34) The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” (35) Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.  ~Acts 8:26-35

~~~

We sometimes have the Word of God, or even God's plan...right in front of us.  We may be aware of it, we may even think it looks beautiful...but until we understand what it means--that is--what God means by it--then we are lost.  

But have we had a "Philip" come up to our "chariot" and offer to help us better understand Jesus? 

I have.  As I look back over my life, I am so grateful for the "Philip's" that have helped me (and are currently shepherding me) to better understand what God's Word means and says, and also how to recognize the Lord moving in my life.  Sometimes we need someone to explain.

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.  

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.  ~Acts 8:30-31

Has anyone explained to us the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  The Good News that our Savior died for us in order to pay for our sins, so that we might have the choice to accept Jesus into our hearts and then live forever with Him in Eternity?

It is a bittersweet truth (with a beautiful Savior), but we must understand the context and why Jesus had to do it.    

But then...how can I, unless someone explains it to me?

~~~

The Bible is a treasure-trove, a road-map, and our spiritual and eternal life boat.  Dig into it.  Ask questions about it.  Explain what you learn to others.  Listen and receive when others share what they have understood from God's Word.  

Philip was a follower of God, and he recognized God's call and direction when it came and he was to visit the chariot with the Ethiopian.  

Listen for God's leading today.  We might be asking the questions.  We might be providing the understanding.  

But regardless..begin with a passage of Scripture and tell someone the good news about Jesus today (Acts 8:35).

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com