Acts 10:9-12

Summary retelling of Acts 10:9-12

As the envoys from Cornelius travel to Joppa, Peter went up to the top of the house to pray around noon.  He got hungry and the people of the house began to prepare him a meal.  While they were fixing the food, Peter sees his vision.  In the vision, Peter sees something coming down to the earth that looks like a sheet.  Upon the sheet were all kinds of animals – birds, reptiles, and mammals.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Obedience.  It has been a really great theme so far.  Why not continue to talk about it?  The first thing we hear in this passage is that Cornelius is obedient to God.  The next thing that we hear is that Peter is obedience to his process of discipleship to God in that he takes time to pray.  It should not be overlooked that this story only moves forward because people of God are willing to be obedient to God.  Where there is obedience, God can move mountains and prepare His people to have Him work through them.

It’s been asked many times, but how’s your obedience coming along?  If it is improving, great!  If not, what will it take for you to understand the importance of obedience to Christ?

Second Thought:

Peter gets hungry while he prays.  No matter how spiritual we are we cannot escape the physical world.  Hunger will come.  Our thoughts will diverge.  We will be distracted from being obedient to God.  When distractions come along, we must ask ourselves: what is more important – satisfying the distraction or obedience to God?

Are there times when we should rightfully deal with the distraction?  How do you know when those times might be?  Does Matthew 5:23-24 shed any light on this question?

Third Thought:

God uses Peter’s distraction to His advantage.  If Peter is going to be distracted by his physical nature, what better way to get his attention by putting a bunch of potential meat in his direct line of sight!  You might think of this being the first great example of God using advertising to get the attention of a person watching something that they do not control.

Has God ever used your physical distractions to get your attention?  What does it meant to you that God can use your distractions to still get your attention?

Passage for Tomorrow: Acts 10: 13-16