Monday, January 2, 2023

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

Acts 8:26-29

I read an article the other day about every man’s desire to be happy, regardless of his condition. Each of us seeks this state with earnestness above all else. We all long for it and search for it in different ways, but with the same goal of joy. What we believe will bring happiness determines how we live, but ultimately, we were made for one person and one place. Jesus is the person and heaven is the place—both reservoirs of joy. Everything else falls short, potentially providing temporary fulfillment but evading everlasting bliss. Nothing or no one else satisfies or fulfills us, but sometimes we allow our desire to be our God, permitting it to lead us to obsessions and addictions. Other times, we deny it trying to kill it to save ourselves. Despite how twisted our desires become, eternity is still in our hearts.

It is this “eternity” that drove this Ethiopian eunuch to Jerusalem to worship. With so much taken from him—the inability to be a husband to a wife or a father to a child, he found himself seeking something else or someone else, beyond himself. He wanted more. Over the next two weeks, we will pull lessons from this man’s encounter with Phillip to help redirect our desires.

PRAYER: Father, search my heart. Let my desire for the “eternal” direct my priorities and actions. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen