Tues., 1/19/16 Devotion (Acts 19:15)

Today's encouragement comes from Acts 19:15, where we read these words:

"And the evil spirit answered and said [to the seven sons of Sceva], 'Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?' "

To me, this is one of the funnier verses in the NT. The demons were (of course) familiar with the Lord Jesus Christ, and even with the Apostle Paul—but they were not used to these "sons of Sceva." The end result was that the demon-possessed man beat them up (see v. 16). But there is a principle here: those who are not called to handle God's "sacred things" should not presume to do so.

This is not an "elitist" situation that God sets up in His church; but it is true that the Lord is a God of order, and that He has different roles and responsi-bilities for the people that make up the body of Christ. Let us fulfill our duties diligently; and let us be genuinely grateful for our various callings.

[Puritan quote of the day: "We love to flatter our own affections, but this self-love is but self-hatred in the end.” —Richard Sibbes, in, "The Soul's Conflict with Itself"]