“Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: ‘He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.’ So the eunuch answered Philip and said, ‘I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man? ’Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.’” (Acts 8 26-35 New King James Version)
We were sitting at the “HR Table,” not something really reserved for Human Resources personnel, but it is where many in our department sat during our lunch break. It was a place where we were clearly visible and accessible. One of the HR reps noticed a man sitting by himself in the rear of the cafeteria, reading his bible. His face looked like he was either having a hard time seeing or he was having difficulty understanding what he was reading. The HR rep who noticed the man said to me, “Aren’t you a pastor? He may need some help understanding what he was reading.” I glanced and it did look like he was struggling. So, I left my heated-up lunch and went to see if he needed some reading glasses or some help in understanding what he was reading. He said, “Yes! I need a little help. I just got this bible when I joined church last Sunday, but it is really hard for me to understand.” Showing empathy, I let him know all of us start out that way, needing a little help. Then I asked him to let me see his bible. On examining his newly presented bible, I noted that he had a translation where the word “He” was not capitalized when referring to God the Father, or Jesus the Son. Also, the word “Lord” was all in lower case, causing the man to additional confusion and I am certainly it interfered with his understanding. By the way, if you don’t know already, check out the three ways the word “lord” appears in the Bible. Okay, back to the reporting on my rising up action and interaction.
First, I recommended that the associate purchase a Bible that clearly identified if they were speaking of He who was the Lord and He who was sent to save us by giving His life on the cross. I followed that up by encouraging him to use more than one translation when trying to understand the scriptures. Of course I suggested, along with buying a translation that made it clear who the inspired writer was referring to, a good study bible, that he should also purchase a copy of the Amplified Bible. I ended my conversation by telling him what I tell all my bible study classes: (1) See what the word says. (2) See what the word means. (3) See what the word means to us.
The young man seemed to accept what I was telling him, as he wrote down my suggestions. Not knowing for sure if he would do it or if he was just being cordial by taking some notes, I did some more, “rising up.” This time my “rising up” consisted of going to God in prayer to request that He put it on this man’s heart to follow up on my suggestions.
Regarding “rising up,” understand that is why you and I are still here. We need to do some “rising up” in helping, in serving, in giving, in living, in following the Christ. So, let’s do it…and do it better! I hope this motivates you, if only a little. For that matters and it could make a major difference in someone’s life. Have a wonderful Wednesday! Remember, we were not saved to sit! We were not blessed to just to enjoy are blessing, but to be a blessing. We were not instructed to wait, but to willingly do some “rising up” and to go ye therefore to make disciples. Be blessed!
“And after He said these things, He was caught up as they looked on, and a cloud took Him up out of their sight. While they were looking intently into the sky as He was going, two men in white clothing suddenly stood beside them, who said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This [same] Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will return in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11 The Amplified Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King