Luke is the Acts of Jesus; Acts is the acts of His people, obedient to His Word. Jesus’ first followers obey His instructions, doing what Jesus did.
Acts urges the early church where many believed Jesus’ return was imminent to stop sitting on their bottoms and get on with the job of telling the world. Notice what Jesus says about this in 1.7.
There is a balance between doing and waiting– He can’t love you any more than He loves you now; He cannot love you less BUT we also need to consider how we build (1 Corinthians 3.10-13). My Mum was in Eckling Grange; one of her very infirm friends regularly wrote notes of Jesus-encouragement to our kids – still building! Are you?
Jesus is very clear: Stay in Jerusalem and wait (no detailed instructions!), wait and …….. receive. Then Jesus’ words stop being commands and become descriptions of who they are going to become! ‘You will…… receive power….., You will be my witnesses’ The WORD (like at Creation) bringing to life the destiny of the disciples/about-to-be-apostles! The early days of obedience (v.12 – 14) sound great, all-inclusive prayer and an understanding of being united as they wait for God’s next step.
How are we at waiting? Our instant lives, info at our finger-tips, probably make us very impatient people, hyper aware of ‘my time’ and how precious we think it is! People stranded at an airport asleep on the floor for 12 hours hit the headlines and yet there are so many tragic examples of desperate waiting across the world – for food or rains that never come, or release from camps or prison where people are unjustly held. Pray into those situations now and know the news.
Wait for the LORD, be strong and wait for the LORD, Psalm 27.14. Obedience (then and now) is a proof of trust – think about Simon Peter going off fishing in yesterday’s reading, unable to simply wait. He’s now the one leading the waiting, seeking God’s answers for the new member of the 12. Transformation is afoot, even before the Spirit falls!
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Action:
As you wait on God watch this video of ‘Waiting Here for You’ by Jesus Culture with Martin Smith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8Djszk4hG4