Do You Understand What You Are Reading?

Do you understand what you are reading? Here begins one of the great stories about one-on-one evangelism. Philip just “happened” to be walking along a desert road when he comes upon a man in a chariot reading aloud from the book of Isaiah

 Philip was familiar with the passage: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.

 Christ gave himself up for us. He did not complain, fuss, or whine. He was obedient to his Heavenly Father to the very end, and we are the beneficiaries of his righteous living.

 The man replied to Philip, “How can I unless someone explains it to me?” the man inquired with a degree of frustration. Now, the man was not stupid. In fact, he was an important official in charge of all the treasury of Queen Candace of the Ethiopians. The man simply did not have the knowledge needed to understand the context of the Scripture passage. Philip, obviously, did.

 Philip’s greatest asset at this point was availability. He was in the right place, at the right time, and he had the knowledge the man needed to make a decision concerning a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

 Christ is not asking you to go on television before millions of people to expound upon the deep theological meanings of the book of Revelation. No, Jesus Christ is asking you to be available all day, every day to do what he asks of you. It could very possibly mean something as simple and ordinary as asking, “Hey, what are you reading?”

 Pastor Craig