About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. (Acts 16:25)
In reading this story, we often think about Paul and Silas’ reaction to being thrown into prison wrongfully.
But today I was thinking about the prisoners’ reactions to Paul and Silas: they were listening.
In troubled times, people are listening to us. What are they hearing?
They are so used to hearing people complaining about the government, complaining about their circumstances, and worrying about the future.
Are they hearing the same from us? Or are they hearing something different?
The prisoners and the jailer heard something different from Paul and Silas. And because of that, they were willing to listen when Paul and Silas had something to say, especially concerning the gospel.
Would these people have been so willing to listen if Paul and Silas had been complaining about the unfairness of the world and how terrible life was?
Recently I’ve been thinking about my needing to be careful about what I post on social media and also about the things I say to my non-Christian coworkers. I don’t want to sound like this world.
What are people hearing from you?
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 