Thursday, June 2, 2011

Unhinderedly ~ Acts 28.31

The author of the book of Acts ends the text with an adverb:  "unhinderedly".  This adverb modifies the verbs, "preaching" and "teaching".  In this case, "preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ " (Acts 28.31).  I believe that he is declaring that the Gospel is "unhindered" as it makes its way from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth (Acts 1.8).  Therefore, his aim is to proclaim that the Gospel is not hindered and that the work begun by Jesus is enduring today. 

The heart of God is unhindered.  He loves you so much that He would rather die than live without you.  The heart of God was unhindered by death, even death on the cross.

So, how do we respond to a love like this?  We either run from Him... defiantly... proudly.  Or, we submit to Him - come back to Him like the broken, lone-prodigal we are.  And when we come to the end of ourselves, and discover that there is no cost too high... no obstacle too great... no distance too far... no distraction too enticing... we seek Him unhinderedly.

When we return to Him, we discover many things.  We discover that we come dirty, broken, messed up.  Jesus takes us up in His strong arms and cleans us... fixes what was broken... binds our wounds... forgives us... heals us... takes us by the hand and shows us how to walk rightly. 

I have all of this in mind as I write "hearts unhindered".  His heart has ever been unhindered.  He wants for me to learn to love in the same way... to love Him... to love my wife... to love my family... to love my church... to love the world... even to love myself... unhinderedly.

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