Weekday Devotionals
Devotional by Tony Tolvo
Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;
"for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: [Act 17:23- 24 NKJV]”
Pastor Aaron shared a statement that is often repeated by many different sects and religions, “All roads lead to God”. We’ve all heard this phrase if we’ve engaged in any kind of religious or spiritual dialogue with people of other faiths and belief systems. If you were keeping up with your fill-ins this past Sunday, you would have seen that:
God is somewhere along every road, but some roads lead to dead ends.
In the 17th chapter in the book of Acts, we see Paul having a discussion with the men of Athens on Mars Hill. History tells us that this hill, also known as the Areopagus, was a small hill covered in stone seats. This area was once used as a forum for the rulers of Athens to hold trials, debate, and discuss important matters. It was in this setting that Paul shared the whole truth of God by starting with a small truth. There was a God that was unknown to them. He found a truth within their culture that he could use to expose the lies of their false gods.
This is one of my favorite stories from the book of Acts. Paul didn’t start with the 4 Spiritual Laws or the Roman road to salvation, he walked through the city and saw how it was given over to idolatry and saw something, a truth within their culture that he could leverage to draw them closer to the whole truth. If you read the passage, you’ll see that once he got his foot in the door, he kicked it wide open. In a span of eight verses, he shared God’s plan from creation to the resurrection. Some mocked him, but some believed and followed.
We can all have a similar impact if we’re willing to keep taking next steps. As Pastor Pete has said many times with our One Year Bible reading, “You don’t have to keep up, but you do have keep on.” The more we know, the more we can share. The more we share, the more people we can bring with us into the Kingdom. Isn’t that exciting? When we’re engaged in these types of discussions, we should remember a fill-in from later in Pastor Aaron’s message:
Jesus is the answer to every philosophy.
Knowing this truth and being able to share it with others will impact our community like nothing else can.
Love y’all…
tony
Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;
"for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: [Act 17:23- 24 NKJV]”
Pastor Aaron shared a statement that is often repeated by many different sects and religions, “All roads lead to God”. We’ve all heard this phrase if we’ve engaged in any kind of religious or spiritual dialogue with people of other faiths and belief systems. If you were keeping up with your fill-ins this past Sunday, you would have seen that:
God is somewhere along every road, but some roads lead to dead ends.
In the 17th chapter in the book of Acts, we see Paul having a discussion with the men of Athens on Mars Hill. History tells us that this hill, also known as the Areopagus, was a small hill covered in stone seats. This area was once used as a forum for the rulers of Athens to hold trials, debate, and discuss important matters. It was in this setting that Paul shared the whole truth of God by starting with a small truth. There was a God that was unknown to them. He found a truth within their culture that he could use to expose the lies of their false gods.
This is one of my favorite stories from the book of Acts. Paul didn’t start with the 4 Spiritual Laws or the Roman road to salvation, he walked through the city and saw how it was given over to idolatry and saw something, a truth within their culture that he could leverage to draw them closer to the whole truth. If you read the passage, you’ll see that once he got his foot in the door, he kicked it wide open. In a span of eight verses, he shared God’s plan from creation to the resurrection. Some mocked him, but some believed and followed.
We can all have a similar impact if we’re willing to keep taking next steps. As Pastor Pete has said many times with our One Year Bible reading, “You don’t have to keep up, but you do have keep on.” The more we know, the more we can share. The more we share, the more people we can bring with us into the Kingdom. Isn’t that exciting? When we’re engaged in these types of discussions, we should remember a fill-in from later in Pastor Aaron’s message:
Jesus is the answer to every philosophy.
Knowing this truth and being able to share it with others will impact our community like nothing else can.
Love y’all…
tony
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