“AHA Moments”

BIBLE READING: Acts 8

                We all have those “Aha Moments” in our lives.  You know…that moment when you uncover a small tidbit of information that leads you to be enlightened to a concept that you had been previously unaware.  Once that moment happens, your brain begins to move at light speed making connections, firing synapses, allowing you to understand things on a different level.  I believe it to be possible that we can have hundreds of the moments as we look back on our lives. Every time I read Acts 8, I am reminded of a specific “Aha Moment” that happened in my life.  It happened when I was a student at International Bible College, listening to Jerry Davidson teach in a Personal Evangelism class.  I had always been drawn by the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch.  The faith that he displayed in such a short amount of time of having his own “Aha Moment” from reading the book of Isaiah and how that correlated to Jesus.  Yet I had never even considered Phillip’s role in the story.   Phillip had been preaching the Good News of the kingdom to the Samaritans.  Now, as you may recall, the Samaritans and the Jews were not exactly on good terms, yet one thing they both shared was their need for Jesus.  While being very successful with his work in Samaria, God has another task that He wants Phillip to accomplish.  God knew the heart of the Eunuch and had big plans for his life as well, but he first needed to be taught the Truth concerning the Gospel.   Upon hearing the words “Rise and go…” from the angel, Phillip begins his journey to find this man on the road to Gaza.   Now, we are not told how far Phillip had to go, but the journey from Samaria to Jerusalem was about 42 miles, then the road to Gaza from Jerusalem was another 49 miles.  We are not told how far the eunuch had traveled on that road, but Phillip would have at least had to travel the 42 miles to Jerusalem before he was even able to get to the desert road that went to Gaza.  The moment that my “Aha Moment” occurred is when I read in the text how Phillip got to the Ethiopian Eunuch when he saw him; “he ran”!  Phillip understood that there was an urgency in making sure he shared the message of Jesus with this man.  I believe that the thought crossed Phillip’s mind that Jesus could return in a matter of moments and if he didn’t get to this man, not only would the man be lost, but he would be held accountable for not doing his best.  I bet this just wasn’t the case for Phillip, but for all the Apostles.  They witnessed the ascension of Jesus, they heard Him say He was returning with their own ears; how could that not have affected them?  That is when it hit me…I wondered what would happen in my life, if I saw the same urgency. Understanding this urgency allowed them to have a passion, a boldness and zeal that I feel is not only lacking in my life, but the church. My prayer is that we constantly be reminded to have this same urgency within our lives, in hopes of sharing the love of Jesus with as many people as we can.