“What
Must I Do to Be Saved?” by Melanie
Rigney
 |
| Nicolas de Plattemontagne [CC0] |
About midnight, while
Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,
there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail
shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the
prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking
that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, "Do
no harm to yourself; we are all here." He asked for a light and rushed in
and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought
them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said,
"Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved." (Acts
16:25-31)
Your right hand saves me, O Lord. (Psalm 138:7c)
"Now
I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you
going?' But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell
you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate
will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he
will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation…"
(John 16:5-8)
Piety
Lord, free me from my earthly fears. Illumine for me the path to freedom.
Study
I have been
the jailer. I suspect you have too, on an occasion or twenty.
Jailers try
to keep God in a cell. Either they don’t believe in Him at all, or they believe
His power in their lives is limited. They get angry and bitter about things
that happen to them, things they believe He should have prevented. Or, maybe
they go to Mass and are active in ministries, but they become convinced that
they, not He, are responsible for the many good things they have.
Then, WHAM!
comes the earthquake, and all the earthly foundations are lost. Fear and despair
roar in. And ultimately, if jailers listen very carefully amid their anguish,
God will whisper the way out: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your
household will be saved.”
If we listen
and find the faith and courage to believe, we learn that we were the jailed,
not the jailers, and that the Almighty was with us all along patiently waiting
to free us.
Action
Where are you
holding God “hostage” instead of letting Him free you?
(Image from the collection at the Met, under his Studies for "The Conversion of the Jailer before Saint Paul and Silas" from 1666.)
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