WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.

About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

Acts 19:21-28

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

“What’s in it for me?”

If we could choose one question that frames the mindset of a majority of people today, I think it would be this one. We seem to be ever trending toward self centeredness and away from self sacrifice.

Of course, this movement toward self couldn’t be more opposite from what our Lord Jesus expects. For if we are to be truly Christian, then we need to be truly Christ-like and there was nothing about Jesus that was focused on Himself. From the youngest age that we know Him in the scriptures, we see where He was only concerned with being about His Father’s business and did so all the way to Calvary’s cross.

Well as we turn to our scripture passage for today and the continued study of Acts 19, we pick up after yesterday’s message which saw the Word of the Lord widely spreading through Ephesus and growing in power.

How strong was this push of the Word?

So strong that it brought on a great disturbance in the city, particularly amongst a group of tradesmen who were profiting off of a false goddess named Artemis who was worshiped by the Greeks.

Now there were two goddesses named Artemis, one viewed by the Greeks as the twin sister of Apollo and the goddess of the wilderness, hunting, and chastity of young girls while the other was a localized God worshiped in the city of Ephesus. The Artemis believers in Ephesus had erected a great temple in honor of the goddess and it was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. You can see where anything manufactured that was Artemis related would have been a very profitable venture and this is what Demetrius, a silversmith by trade, and the other craftsman were concerned about as Paul’s work in spreading the Gospel was finding such great success. The aforementioned Demetrius called all his trade colleagues together to address the threat directly saying:

“You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

Maybe Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen were really believers in Artemis but I think much of their alarm was financially-driven. We sense this in Demetrius’ words.

“You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business.”

“There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

In other words, lose Artemis to illegitimacy and you lose your livelihood. Plain and simple. That is what Demetrius was trying to say here. It didn’t matter if Paul was right and they were wrong. That wasn’t even a consideration. The tradesmen were so self centered in their stance that they were blinded to the real truth that the god they promoted was inanimate and illegitimate. Through their work, they were the ones robbing others by promoting falsehood and leading the people of Ephesus away from the salvation found in Jesus. All because it was all about themselves.

This is what made the reaction of the craftsmen after listening to Demetrius so predictable. For after hearing they would lose their precious income, they became furious and proclaimed:

“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

And in doing so, they declared their opposition to the one true God. For as Jesus said:

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24

In the tradesmen of Ephesus, we see the dangers of adopting a spirit of self centeredness. For when we do, we end up worshiping all the wrong things, including ourselves.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com