May 15, 2026 | Be Connected
Openly and Publicly Proclaiming Jesus
Scripture: Acts 19:17-22(NIV)
17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
21 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.” 22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.
Devotional
What a beautiful phrase: “the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.”
There is perhaps nothing more important that we can do with our lives. Holding Jesus’ name in high honor is much greater than success, health, longevity, and all the pursuits of happiness. We are called to make His name great!
When this happened in Ephesus, lives were changed. People became believers. People confessed their sins. People burned their paganism, literally. These sorcery scrolls were worth fifty thousand days wages. That’s one hundred thirty seven years’ worth of salary. All up in smoke, rising as an incense to God in heaven. And beyond that, they lost their source of income, since they were practitioners of sorcery.
No more syncretism for those new believers. No merging the demands of Christ with the allures of culture. They were all in. Financially broke, but spiritually rich.
What would cause someone to do that? Put yourself in their sandals. How might Jesus so confront your life that you would publicly declare your faith, confess your sins, and sever your binds to godlessness?
Hold on. It gets even better. When these Ephesian sorcerers did this, verse 20 says, “In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Can you imagine a change so dramatic in the lives of you and others, that the result is a rapid growth in numbers and power for Christianity!
Here’s the kicker. Do you have any scrolls that need burned? Any habits that need destroyed? Any practices that need eliminated? Any objects that need trashed? Any binds that need severed?
What are you going to do about it?
