“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and join this chariot.’ So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. … Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the Good News about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?’ And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the Gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.” (Acts 8:26-31, 35-40)
Just look at the amount of trouble God went to in order to save a single human being! Here is this man from Ethiopia, a queen’s treasurer no less, traveling through the desert on his way home. God sends Philip, one of Jesus’ apostles, to go meet him on the side of the road. They have a little Bible study, the man gets baptized, and the Holy Spirit grabs Philip and takes him away. All that work just to make a single believer!
I think about that sometimes when I’m worrying about a person who seems far from the Lord, somebody who needs help, needs Jesus. But even though I care about that person, he’s just one person, and nobody important in the eyes of the world. The leaders of this world would say, “It’s not cost-effective to send somebody to care for him. We can get a bigger return on our investment if we send people to large groups—or if we concentrate on people who are well-known and influential.”
But God doesn’t think that way. “One person” is enough for Him to move mountains so that he or she gets to hear the Good News. One person is enough for Him to send a messenger of His love, even someone as important as one of Jesus’ twelve disciples! One person is enough for Jesus Himself to lay down His life to save—yes, and to rise from the dead, too. Because that one person is loved—by God, and by God’s people. One is enough.
Prayer: Dear Father, would You please reach out to (name of person here) with Your love and salvation? Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Republished with permission from Lutheran Hour Ministries
Reflection Questions:
1. Tell about a time when you spent way more money, time, or effort on something than other people thought was necessary. Why did you do it?
2. Who is your “one person” that you are praying will come to trust in Jesus?
3. How can you show love to that person?
