Wednesday, Feb 16
Resourceful
Scripture: Leviticus 3-4, Proverbs 4, Acts 23
Acts 23:6 When Paul realized that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part were Pharisees, he cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead!”
Acts 23:17 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander, because he has something to report to him.”
Observation
When Paul was being questioned by the Sanhedrin, it quickly became clear that this was not a fair and impartial trial. So he defended himself by appealing to the deep divides between the Pharisees and Sadducees, which shifted the focus of the hearing and resulted in a heated argument between those two groups. This was not only a clever tactic to protect himself, but a deliberate attempt to shift the charges against him from being a law-breaker to a theological issue—the theological issue of the resurrection of Jesus.
Later, when Paul heard from his nephew that the Jews were plotting to assassinate him, he called one of his Roman protectors and asked him to take the boy to the commander. Again, Paul used the means at hand to protect himself.
Jesus said: “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16
We are sheep, but we aren’t to be stupid! We are on a mission from God and are to trust Him completely, but we must still be shrewd, wise.
Application
One commentator wrote that Paul “is being presented to Christian readers as ‘a resourceful witness from whom other missionaries can learn.’”
I like that word “resourceful”. Sometimes faith is presented as mindless. We get the impression that if we trust the Lord, we turn off our brains. Not true!
I think of the story of the two boys dallying on their way to school. When they hear the tardy bell ring in the distance, one of them drops to his knees and begins to pray they won’t be late. The other takes off running, and yells, “I’m going pray while I run.”
Paul would have prayed while he ran. He did the shrewd thing; he was resourceful, wise. We should be too.
Trusting God doesn’t mean that you don’t use your head!
Prayer: Lord, help me to be shrewd—in the best sense of that word: wise and resourceful.