The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” (Acts 8:24-26).
Though retired from the insurance industry, I still hold my breath a bit during hurricane season. Atlantic storms go wherever they please and damage whatever they choose. They don’t stop at state borders, and they could care less about county lines. Man-made boundaries mean nothing to these and other forces of nature.
In a sense, the same can be said of the word of God: no person, no government, no border can constrain it. Like the wind, it rushes from the mouth of one into the heart of another, regardless of political ideology. Like a forest fire, it leaps from the page of Scripture and ignites the soul, no matter one’s nationality. From those with no degree to those with advanced degree, God’s word topples walls of resistance with seismic power. And wherever the word of God is received in faith, there the kingdom of God—His rule in the heart—is established.
In today’s Scripture, Philip encountered a government official—Ethiopian by nationality, Jewish by faith—and explained to him Isaiah’s foretelling of Jesus, the Messiah. As the man listened, the Spirit overwhelmed him like a flood filling every void in his soul. “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” God’s kingdom had expanded by a population of one.
We don’t know where God’s reign will be established next—whether in this heart or that one—but it will spread, unseen, reaching and giving new birth to people of every nation, every race, and every religious background. And in this confidence, we share God’s word, tell our stories of His transforming work in our lives, and serve people in the name of Christ , whose kingdom is established in all who receive Him.
[Read today’s Scripture in Acts 8:26-36.]
Paul Nordman—Author 