“There’s Nothing Perhaps About It”

Today’s reading - Acts 11:1-10 (NIV): 1The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."
4Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: 5"I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.'
8"I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'
9"The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.' 10This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

Three times, hum, seems like several things in the bible relate to three’s. God has definitely revealed that the gospel message is for all! That no one is to be left behind, not having an opportunity to hear the preaching. Peter was visiting in homes of those formerly unacceptable to mingle with according to religious law, and now God is expecting him and the others to do just that.

When Peter questioned God so he could be absolutely clear that he food was good to eat, the voice from heaven spoke. I wonder what everyone was thinking about Peter when he was relaying this to them. Something like, ‘oh my, he has really lost his mind now, we can’t eat those animals, we’ve never been able to, what is he thinking?’

If the church goers of today would not call anything impure that God had made perhaps our culture would be different. Perhaps if hearts pointed directly to God our characters and values would be different. If people would listen to those sharing the true message, perhaps wars and famine would not prevail. I could go on and on.

Perhaps – there is nothing perhaps about God – it will be!

Dorothy Drago Brucks
Aldersgate UMC
Nixa, Mo.
www.aldersgatechurch.com