Read the Word:
Acts 6:8-15
Meditate on the Word:
We are told precious little about the life of Stephen, who would become the first Christian martyr. We are told that he was elected to help with the daily distribution to the widows (Acts 6:1-5). We are told that he had the Holy Spirit and that he had wisdom. He worked wonders and signs and spoke the gospel boldly. So little to sum up someone so important to the spread of the gospel. His killing caused Christ’s followers to flee Jerusalem and take the gospel to many other places.
The account of Stephen gives us some important things to think about. The first is that if we are Christ’s followers, our works will show this. We may not perform signs and miracles, but our lives will reflect the character of Christ. The second is that there will be people who do not like us as followers of Christ. They will want to stop us from proclaiming Christ. We must not stop. The third is that if our words are true, any witness against us is a false witness. Those men from the Freedmen’s Synagogue had nothing true to say against Stephen. This was why they resorted to false testimony. Let us live and speak in a way that all accusations against us are false.
Pray the Word:
Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit by which we may speak the truth to a lost world.
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