Title: Hold Yourself to the Lord
Contents
Hold yourself up to the Lord (Acts 8:9-24)
The end of Genesis is decorated by Jacob and Joseph. Joseph, who became the prime minister of Egypt under the guidance of God, had a dramatic reunion with his brothers who had sold him. When Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, knew this, he rejoiced as if it were his own, and invited Joseph's father Jacob and the entire family to Egypt. It was a consideration to allow them to live with Joseph in Egypt. Genesis 45:19-20 tells the words of Pharaoh to Joseph at this time.
(New Standard Version) 'Tell me again like this. I have to bring my children and wives with me, so let me bring up several carts from Egypt as well. Make sure you bring your father too. Theirs will be the best of all the land of Egypt, so tell them to throw away their belongings without any regrets.”
Pharaoh of Egypt, through Joseph, asked Jacob to leave everything he had and come without any regrets. It was because he was the king of Egypt, the largest empire at the time, and he was going to give them everything they needed with the best. Then Jacob didn't really need to take anything. It would only become a burden when you go with the crumpled furniture used in Canaan, and it could not be of any use to anyone. However, Genesis 46:1 reveals that when Jacob left Canaan for Egypt, he took all that he had with him. How hard would it have been to take that long, long road from Canaan to Egypt, and to take all of those old and old things? The more you think about it, the more foolish it can be.
But what do we do with that foolish Jacob who is who we are? The old people, that is, we ourselves who are burdened with the weight and cannot do anything new by carrying on our heads the worthless things that we should throw away without any regrets. We ourselves are unable to enjoy the joy of the new life that the Lord has given us because we live with meaningless things that we have to give up.
We find ourselves again in today's text.
Simon, who witnessed the Holy Spirit descending whenever the apostles laid their hands on them, immediately opened his wallet, gave money to the apostles, and asked them to sell his extraordinary power to him.
Outwardly, he was baptized and worshiped Philip as an intellect, but on the inside he still had the heart of an old magician.
Verses 20-21 of the text reveal such a rebuke against Simon.
“Therefore, repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord, and he will forgive you for what you have in your heart. I see that you are full of wickedness, and you are bound by iniquity.”
Peter turned to Simon, whose heart was still full of bitterness and injustice, and asked him to repent and pray to the Lord. When Peter commands Simon to pray to the Lord, to plead with the Lord means to bind oneself to the Lord, to bind one's heart to the Lord.
Prayer is the labor that binds my heart to the Lord. Breathing with His deep breath, you will observe me with His eyes, think with His words, and see the world with His mind. As long as we are bound in Him, each day that comes to us is a new day. Will be.