Send Me To The Desert

“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert”

Acts 8:26

This verse may not seem like much, but there is so much power behind it. A simple call to go to Gaza which was in the desert. Philip was a great man of God. He had just come out of a time where his buddy and running mate Stephen had been stoned and killed as a martyr for the Gospel. Now Philip has a call from the Angels to go into the desert all by himself, however God was with him and God was getting ready to do something great in his life.

The important thing to understand about this passage is that Philip was in Samaria preaching the Gospel, and he wasn't just preaching to one or two people, Philip was preaching to the masses. Tons of people in Samaria were responding to the Gospel and revival was beginning to break out. Wouldn't it be great to see a revival break out in America today? I think it would!

So, Philip has been called by God to leave a comfortable situation speaking to the masses and saving lives. He’s called to the Gaza desert to encounter one man, The Ethiopian Eunuch. Here is where the story gets juicy, some of you reading this may be asking, “why couldn't the Angels just have ministered to this Ethiopian man?” This is amazing, the Angels don't have the authority to explain salvation because they themselves have never experience salvation themselves, so they cannot bear witness of what it means to be saved.

Uh oh, guess what that means. God has issued us with the duty of sharing what it means to be a forgiven, saved, follower of Christ. Philip was fulfilling the great commission by going to this one man in the desert. Are we willing to go to the ones? As they met, this Eunuch was quoting a passage in Isaiah to Philip but didn't understand it. So Philip took it upon himself to teach this man what that passage means. I love it, Philip had his “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” (Ephesians 6:15.) Philip was ready to share the Gospel and what happened, to make a long story short is that the Ethiopian Eunuch was saved and baptized and went on his way proclaiming the Gospel throughout all of Ethiopia.

To my knowledge Ethiopia is one of the only Christian countries left in the continent of Africa. The Eunuch left his mark. Philip left his mark even though he left the masses for the one in the desert, just like any good shepherd would do. We see one of the greatest testimonies of two people meeting in a deserted place but the both leaving with their souls quenched by the love of God.

I want to leave you with two quotes:

Billy Graham was like Philip, one of the greatest evangelist to ever live. He said this about the evangelism “An evangelist is like a newscaster on television or journalist for a newspaper, except the evangelist mission is to tell the Good news that never changes.” In case you didn't know, we all as Christians have a ministry and at the center of our ministry is evangelism, as Billy Graham said, sharing the good news of God that never changes.

The second quote is from Kirk Cameron and it says “If you had the cure for cancer you'd share it, we know the cure for death so we must share it.”

Question for the day: Who is the one you need to leave your comfort zone to go share the good news of God’s saving grace with? We have the cure! Are you willing to share it?

Prayer for the day: “God, help me to maximize my ministry and be fearless when it comes to reaching out to the ones who are lost in my life. Give me the willingness of Philip and the people I share the Gospel with the desire to know you like the Eunuch.”