'28' - Day 7

OK, so, this morning we’re talking about something a little more serious than tot rejection. But, that is pretty funny! Rejection. Have you experienced it? Maybe from someone you wanted to go out with or hang out with. Maybe from a potential employer. Maybe on the playground at school, when you divide into teams and you’re the last one to get picked for kick ball. It hurts. It’s painful. It happens.

What if you flip the coin? What have you rejected? Who have you rejected? Acts 7 gives a POWERFUL account of Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin, which was sort of like the Supreme Court of ancient Israel. Understand, Stephen hadn’t done anything wrong. In fact, he did “great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.” He was there because he’d ticked off some of the members of the Synagogue. They lied. They distorted his words. They produced false witnesses. They rejected him.

Stephen points out how, throughout history, Israel repeatedly refused to obey God, rejecting truth. The Israelites repeatedly rejected the forefathers of their faith. The ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel rejected their brother Joseph. The Israelites rejected Moses. They made idols to worship, rejecting God. They resisted and rejected the Holy Spirit. They killed the prophets called for their repentance and who prophesied about the coming of Christ. And when He came, they even rejected and murdered Him. Rejection. Rejection. Rejection.

Just as the Israelites repeatedly rejected God, many Bible-believing, church-going “Christians” reject him today. They live a very different life in church and out of church, at home, in school, at work and among their friends.

Have you rejected God? Have you rejected the teaching of God’s Word? If you are to accept the POWER God promises in Acts 1:8, you must stop rejecting your faith.