“His Spirit Was Being Provoked Within Him” (11/26)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Acts 17:1-18:18.

When Paul came to Athens, he preached the gospel just as he did wherever he went. But it is noteworthy to consider what provoked him to preach there.

“Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present” (Acts 17:16-17).

Paul’s “spirit was being provoked within him” by the idolatry that existed in the city. It bothered him to see the people devoting themselves to so many false gods instead of worshipping the one, true, living God.

So what did Paul do? He obviously wanted the people of Athens to quit worshipping their false gods. But in order to try to make this happen, he did not attempt to destroy the altars they had set up for their gods. He did not appeal to the rulers of the city to make some law that would prohibit the worship of these other gods. Instead, he simply preached the gospel to everyone he could. As a result, some of the Athenians believed (Acts 17:34).

We need to be bothered by sin as Paul was. Too many Christians today tolerate sin or view it as an inconsequential matter. Paul was bothered by sin and was provoked to do something about it – preach the gospel.

As we see sin all around us, we should be bothered by it. It should provoke us to action. The best action we can take is what Paul did – preach the gospel to any we might have the opportunity to teach.

Tomorrow’s reading: 1 Thessalonians 1-5; 2 Thessalonians 1-3

[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]

Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.