HOW MUCH YOU CARE: Goodbook 05-14-12

Goodbook messages arrive every Monday, Thursday, and Friday with a Scripture reading and ideas for how to apply the reading in our lives. We are reading through the book of Acts. For additional Scripture reading, you can follow the Advanced Track.

Reading: Acts 16:27-31
(Advanced Track: 1 Kings 5-8, 2 Chronicles 2-8; Proverbs 25-29; Psalm 134, 146-150)

²⁷ The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”  ²⁹ The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  ³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved —you and your household.”

Application:

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  This was the case for the jailer in our reading.  Paul and Silas had been traveling around, telling people about salvation through Jesus Christ.  The jailer had probably heard their message, either through word or through song.  But he did not care what they knew until he knew that they cared.

Then one night, Paul and Silas showed the jailer how much they cared.  An earthquake opened the prison doors and loosened the chains of the prisoners.  Had the prisoners escaped, the jailer would have paid the price with his life.  Paul and Silas could have used their freedom to escape.  No one would have faulted them for it.  But they cared about the life of the jailer.  They cared enough to stay and keep all the other prisoners with him.  What an incredible display of love.  Can you imagine?  A prisoner sacrificing their freedom to save the life of their jailer?!?

Now the jailer knew they cared about him.  Now he cared what they knew.  He asked them what he needed to do to be saved, and they told him about Jesus.  It was the perfect opportunity to tell the jailer about a God who sacrificed his life to save ours!!!

Think about the people in your life who are not Christians or who are not part of a community of faith.  Do they know you care about them?  I mean, do they REALLY know you care about them – care enough that you would sacrifice for them, that you would risk your life for them?  We can tell people what we know about God.  But most people do not care what we know until they know that we care.  The best way to open a door for the Gospel is to show people how much we care.  Once they know we care about them, they will care about what we know.

So think about someone in your life who does not yet know, love, and follow God.  Think about someone who you’d like to share the Gospel with.  Think about ways you can show them you care.  Now…

1) Show them how much you care.

Share your thoughts, questions, and ideas about how to apply this…