There is this awesome passage in the Bible in Acts about Philip. There is this Ethiopian eunuch that is riding in a carriage on his way to worship. So God tells Philip to go over to the carriage. Philip goes over to the carriage and overhears the eunuch reading a passage from Isaiah. Philip then asks him if he understands what he is reading and the eunuch replys, "How can I understand what I am reading unless someone explains it to me?" (Acts 8:31).
Now, this isn't even the whole story and already there is some amazing things to consider and take away from this scripture. For instance, the fact that the eunuch was on his way to worship. That is so cool. See, we as a "Christian" society still assume that if you go to church, you have a pretty good idea about who God is. Let alone, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I feel like this simple sentence alone has so much signifigance in our world today. We see people in church all the time and we don't take the time to find out more. They are at church, so obviously they have their stuff together, right? Not always. Or we see people worshipping and we assume they know it all. Clearly, if they love God enough to worship Him then they have it all together. If that same person were to ask a question about scripture or God's design for them, we might be a bit taken aback. Even though we talk about continuous growth or the fact that people will never obtain a level of perfection, in the back of most of our minds we are still waiting for that moment when we have it all together, when we know all that we need to. In fact, some of us refuse to do things until we obtain all the knowledge we need. How many times have you heard the following:
We can't date/get engaged/ get married/ have children/ buy a house/ ect. word vomit/ until we are stable financially/spiritually/ mentally/ etc. word vomit.
I can't serve God in the mission field/ in my work/ with my friends/ in my home/ etc. word vomit until I have read all there is to read of Christ/ prayed until my mind explodes/ received a certificate detailing my knowledge of Christ/ gone through 25 courses, had 6 laying of the hands and 5 blessings from licensed priests/ etc. word vomit.
The Bible says that the eunuch was on his way to worship! He wasn't aware of a clear picture of who Christ was. He may not have understood all that God had designed for him, but he knew there was more out there. He was on his way to worship and searching within the scripture of Isaiah for more. He was thirsty for Living Water. He wasn't waiting for someone to tell him how to worship or what verse to read. He was waiting for his mind to be prepared for what lie in store. He wasn't postponing his life for steps that happen when YOU START LIVING. He just was simply starting.
AHHHHH!!! So this is just the first part of all the awesomeness. I mean, we haven't even gotten to the part where Philip speaks up because he chose to obey God and be in the place where God placed him (which, by the way, was a wilderness road in the middle of the heat of the day. Can we say UNCOMFORTABLE and maybe NOT OUR IDEA OF A PLACE TO SERVE?????) But I want to really chew on this story for a while and get all that I can from the scripture so I'm saving the rest for the rest of the week. What I want to focus on right now is how our perception of how things should be done might be a little off.
Maybe, just maybe, when God said to love Me and then love your neighbor: HE MEANT JUST THAT. Not love Me, but before you do, make sure you have read up on Me and know My ins and outs. Not love your neighbor, but before you do, make sure you have your own heart completely perfect, your likes and preferences are similiar to your neighbor and you take a shower first (although the shower would be some common sense and courtesy people!). Just to simply love Me and love your neighbor. As in right now. As in, you don't need a refresher course or your finances in order or your ten point life plan at point number 7. JUST DO IT.
I look at the eunuch and I am in awe. He didn't understand all that scripture had to say. But he knew that there was a powerful God that deserved worship. And so that is what he was going to do. Despite the fact the world told him he wasn't ready yet. Whether he converted to Judaism a while back or was just getting started, he jumped in.
How many times have I held back because I thought I wasn't ready or didn't have it all together? And how many times have I not gone and worshipped and denied something my Savior DERSEVES because I thought I didn't understand the scripture or I couldn't keep up with the music????
