Jump Start # 1022

Acts 8:27-28 “So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and as reading the prophet Isaiah.”

The eunuch—what a favorite story of those who love the Lord and love to hear lessons about an honest and good heart being moved by the word of God. This account in the book of Acts is packed with lessons—many lessons. There is a lesson about God pulling Philip away from Samaria, where he was teaching multitudes to go talk to one person. One person. One person is important to God. That’s a great lesson.

There is a lesson about prophecy telling us about Christ. What the eunuch read was about the Messiah. It was an easy bridge to cross from that passage to Jesus and Calvary.

There is a lesson about baptism. They traveled and they came upon water. The eunuch, in incredible belief, asked if he could be baptized. Teaching Jesus necessitates telling one about baptism. Not doing that is a failure to show God’s complete story.

But there are some other lessons that are not as obvious. Let’s look at a few of them.

First, the eunuch was reading the Bible on his way home from worship. He had been to Jerusalem to worship. Now, he was heading home. In our language today, “church was over.” Yet, there he is reading Isaiah. That’s something. Some leave their Bibles at the church building until next week when they return. Others, toss their Bibles into the back seat and off we go. There is something fresh and remarkable about that eunuch. Maybe that’s why God pulled Philip away and sent him that direction. I wonder if we would do better if we spent more time in the word after worship?

Second, the eunuch had his own copy of Isaiah. That doesn’t seem such a big deal to us. It would have been huge back then. I doubt that Philip had a copy. Isaiah was written in three huge scrolls. To own a private copy would have been very expensive. The copies were hand written. Few had a copy in their homes. Most of them were stored in synagogues. This eunuch had his own copy. Amazing! He must have been a person of wealth to be able to do that. It speaks volumes about his faith. He could have bought many things. He bought a copy of Isaiah. I wonder if he had just purchased it in Jerusalem? That would be the likely place to get a copy. A person wouldn’t find a copy in Ethiopia, where he was heading. Remember the feel and the smell of a new Bible in your hands? There is nothing like it. The pages are crisp. The ink is bold. There is a newness about it. Most of my Bibles look like they’ve been dragged by dirt bikes. They are marked up, underlined and well worn. I have a new one, still in the box, sitting in my desk. It’ll come out soon. I’ll trying to get a few more miles out of the current one. The eunuch had his own copy of Isaiah.

Third, he was willing to ask questions about what he read. He didn’t pretend to know what he was reading. He was truly confused. He wanted to know. The subject of the Isaiah passage mattered. It mattered to him. He had a special curiosity about him. He was interested and he wanted to know. His mind was working. He was thinking. He needed to know. We need to know.

Our faith must be fed. It’s fed by a diet of the word of God. Life experiences can toughen us, but they don’t shape and mold our faith, not like the word of God can. There are no short cuts. A regular habit of reading the Bible builds strong faith. You look at powerful Christians in your life and you’ll see people who have a Bible near them and they turn to it often. That’s the mark of strong faith.

One of the best ways to read the Bible is to put the Bible on one arm of your chair and have a pen and pad of paper on the other arm. Like the eunuch, you’ll come across things that you do not understand. Write them down. You’ll see things that you want to remember, use that pen. You’ll find lessons that impress you, mark those down. Do more than just read. Ask questions. Dig for answers. Find connections. Raise the hood on a passage and tear into it until you figure it out.

This is how I write these Jump Starts. I’m asked all the time about my “insight” into the Scriptures. How do you see these things, folks have asked. It’s not rocket science. It’s just a matter of looking, thinking, reading. Read a passage out loud. Put yourself in the passage. People then are not a lot different than people today. Look for repeated words. Notice questions. Notice the answer to those questions. Notice reactions. Notice attitudes. Before long you’ll notice all kinds of things. Simple verses will explode with lessons and ideas. Don’t be in a hurry. Don’t chew on too many verses at a time. Give them time to simmer in your mind. You’ll get there. It’s a wonderful journey. It’s an insight that will change your life.

The eunuch impresses me. I think he was impressing God as well.

Roger