Day 295 "Opening the Right Gift"

 

Passage: Acts 19:2b-5

 

They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."   So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?"  "John's baptism," they replied. Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." On hearing this they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

 

Devotion:

 

Last Christmas my daughter Amanda had one gift circled on the top of her list -- Dorothy Slippers. If you don't know what "Dorothy Slippers" are you might want to watch The Wizard of Oz, Amanda's favorite movie. Everyone who asked Amanda what she wanted for Christmas heard the same thing -- Dorothy Slippers, little else (without her mother's intercession she might have received a lot of Dorothy Slippers). On Christmas Day, as Amanda was beginning to reach the end of her unopened gifts, I began to read a little disappointment on her face, though the other gifts were nice, the only thing she really wanted for Christmas was Dorothy Slippers. Finally her sister Natalie (who had won the lottery among her siblings of who was to give her this special gift) said as she pulled out a hidden package, "Hey Amanda, aren't you going to open my present?" The memory of Amanda's shriek of excitement and then pure joy still makes me smile to this day.

 

In our passage today Paul seems to be a little shocked and disappointed. Here in Ephesus he found disciples and believers who were not acting as if they had received the incredible gift of Jesus. He expected them to be like Amanda, full of excitement and joy, so he asks a really good question, "Then what baptism did you receive?" In other words, "Did you open all your gifts (the right gift)?" When they answered, "John's baptism", everything made sense to him and Paul went on to explain that John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, while baptism into Jesus' name is one of re-birth. It is the difference between attempting to change (but still being the old you); versus being re-born (2 Corinthians 5:18, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone the new has come!"). They had left the most important and amazing gift of all, unrecognized and still wrapped under the tree.

 

Questions to Ponder:

 

Are you living with joy and excitement as if you just received the greatest gift of all? Or is that gift unopened and unused sitting on a shelf somewhere? Have you become a new creation in Christ or are you still living in the same old chains? The gift of Jesus is available to each of us; all we need to do is receive Him. Our passage today concludes with these words, "On hearing this they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus." What will your response be what you've heard today? Will you receive the gift of Jesus?