Let Your World Revolve Around Jesus Today

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Acts 6:7, “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.”

Background

To read about the evolution of the models of our universe is to come across some of the early giants of science. None other than Aristotle himself provided the first observable data to support his argument that the Earth was not flat, but was in fact a sphere. Along with this theory Aristotle provided a model depicting the Sun, Moon, and stars orbiting around the Earth. In the century after Christ, Ptolemy built upon Aristotle’s work and catalogued in his treatise called Almagest several dozen constellations that appeared in the heavens. And so it remained for hundreds of years, that is until Copernicus came along. Copernicus proposed that the Sun was at the center and the Earth and other planets revolved around it. He also proposed that the Earth rotates each day, revolves around the sun each year, and tilts on its axis annually. On his heels came Galileo and then Kepler, all of whom drew from others before them going as far back as Aristarchus of Samos in the 3rd century BC. What these and other men were doing was completely overthrowing the belief system regarding their universe and its position and relation to mankind. The change of thought was cataclysmic and undid eons of philosophy and science, but all for sake of getting closer to the truth and reality.

Application

For the priests of the days of the early church, their thinking had been established upon millennia of instruction that came from the writings of God Himself. They believed the words of the Creator and specialized in history and the promise of His prophecy. But when Jesus came along, He did not fit into their system of thought. And when He died, He fit that much less. But God was not through with the priests of Israel, and after Christ’s ascension, they heard the message of a dead Savior who rose again to conquer death and deliver Israel and all mankind from more than tribulation and servitude. And a great many believed and became obedient to the faith. They accepted that they were no longer the center of their universe, but that God was, and following Jesus made all of that make sense.

Charge

As we seek Him today, let your world revolve around Jesus and see how much more sense that makes.

Editor Comment: This devotional challenges modern believers, like the first-century priests, to let Jesus, not self, sit at the center of their lives.