The Ethiopian

   Hello dear friends.

  Here's the deal. I have about 3-4 ... ok,.. 4 to be precisely exact, projects I want to sew this morning between now and 11.10. Which is the time I go get my small man child from school. Except for this small problem. I'm about to go on another Suzy style rant, so hear me out. Get your coffee, or your knitting. Something. Just get it.

  I had my dishes all washed, the laundry tumbling in the dryer, the Christmas tree lite, my beds all made, the house mostly tidy, and last but not least, my sewing machine all set up and ready to go. Buuuuttt,..I couldn't sit down and sew because I have a deep feeling that I need to share with you my latest obsession. You see, lately in my life, I have become infatuated with the Bible. Now, I have always known and loved the Lord, but that I loved my Bible and desperately wanted to understand it, I can't honestly tell you that I did. It is nearly a magical book, if I can call it magical without being disrespectful. You see, God actually talks to you thru it. It is completely and utterly amazing to me. It becomes addicting in a most lovely way. So anyhow, we don't have internet at home, and it's hard to blog on a smart phone. So here I am at the coffee shop, frantically typing.

   Here is the obsession, Acts Chapter 8. There are a few fascinating stories in that chapter, but right now, my favorite, is the Etiopian Eunich. Ethiopia is located in the horn of Africa as far as I can tell. He lives there as a treasurer for Queen Candace. Power and wealth are a big part of his life. He knows about God, He decides to travel to Jerusalem to go to the heart of the country where Jesus walked. Now let me tell you, he travels in a chariot. Not a Chevy Acadia, folks. A chariot. I googled the miles between Jerusalem and Ethiopia, it is NOT just a little jaunt. So imagine him, the Queens treasurer, dressed up in Ethiopian garb, I imagine gold embroidery, hundreds of rows of pom poms, and I have no clue what kind of shoes he had on, riding behind a horse on a (maybe) gold chariot. He goes to Jerusalem, leaves to go home, is in his chariot reading about Isiah, When a man named Phillip comes running up to him and asks if he understands what he is reading.

  Now something must be said for Phillip here, He was one of the 7 elected from the 12 disciples to help the new church grow. He is busy about his life and an angel appears to him and says go down this desert road, Somewhere I read it was a bit of a treacherous journey. So he packs up, and heads down the desert road. He must have had a substantial amount of faith to do exactly what he had been asked to do. He sees the Ethiopian Eunich dressed in all his finery, a man of rich cloth, reading about Prophet Isiah. He then witnesses to the man.

  Then the Eunich asks him "why not be baptized" so Phillip baptizes him, and then while the Eunich is watching, Phillip dissappears, into thin air folks. Can you imagine? He then resumes his journey to Africa, with joy in his heart. Back to his station beside the queen, only this time, a Christian. Think what he was able to tell the people, and imagine the spreading of the Gospel that must have occurred after that. Being the Queens treasurer, the people must have looked up to him.

  While I have rambled sufficiently about the Ethiopian, It is Phillip who really played a role. My point is this, YOU are a Phillip. You might only see your sin, but God sees you in a different light. You are not here by coincidence. Imagine if Phillip had said to himself, I sinned big time this morning, I CANNOT do my part in the Kingdom of God. A tragedy it would have been. Go where God calls you, don't hide your faith, it is the most important thing about your life, and you have absolutely no idea who God might put in your exact path today.