What if God's grace is far more expansive than we've ever imagined?
Through the story of Cornelius and Peter's transforming vision, we discover that God's love is not confined by our religious boundaries, cultural expectations, or ideas about who belongs. The Spirit is already at work, opening hearts and revealing the inclusive love of Jesus Christ.
SCRIPTURE: Job 5; Psalm 108; Acts 10–11
One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible-in-a-year podcast with 20-minute Scripture readings, Christ-centered devotion, and guided prayer. This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus' kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved.
TODAY'S DEVOTION
You Are Already Welcome
There's a wonderful moment in our reading today that I think we need to pay attention to.
Peter has a vision. A sheet is lowered from heaven, filled with animals that Peter has always understood to be unclean. And he hears a voice telling him to get up, kill, and eat.
Peter objects. He knows the rules. He knows the boundaries. He knows what is acceptable and what is not.
And then he hears these words: "Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean."
Now, that's quite a statement.
And as the story unfolds, Peter begins to understand that this vision isn't ultimately about food. It's about people. It's about the way he has learned to see others. It's about the boundaries he's been taught to maintain between himself and those who are different from him.
And suddenly, those boundaries are being challenged by the living God.
Peter goes to the home of Cornelius, a Gentile, someone he would not ordinarily associate with in this way. And as he shares the good news of Jesus, the Holy Spirit falls upon everyone gathered there.
Before Peter can establish a new set of requirements, before he can determine whether these people qualify, before he can decide whether they belong, God has already acted.
And Peter is left with a remarkable discovery.
God shows no favoritism.
Friends, I wonder how often we find ourselves standing where Peter stood.
We have our categories. We have our traditions. We have our convictions about who is in and who is out. And sometimes, without even realizing it, we begin to imagine that the love of God is confined within those boundaries.
But then Jesus comes along and opens our eyes.
And we discover that God's grace has been at work in places we never expected.
I think this is one of the beautiful things about the gospel. Jesus doesn't come to persuade a reluctant Father to love humanity. Jesus comes to reveal the Father who has loved us all along.
In him, we see the heart of God laid bare.
And what do we see?
We see the One who moves toward the outsider. The One who welcomes the stranger. The One who touches the untouchable. The One who sits at tables with people others have decided don't belong.
We see a God whose love is not something we manufacture through religious performance. It's a gift. It's the very life of God, shared with us in Jesus Christ.
And here's something else I love about this story.
Peter isn't the one bringing God to Cornelius. God is already there.
Peter is simply discovering what God has already been doing.
That changes the way we see the world, doesn't it?
Perhaps our calling isn't to decide who deserves the grace of God. Perhaps our calling is to recognize where that grace is already at work and to join in.
To become people who see others through the eyes of Jesus.
To become people who open doors rather than close them.
To become people who welcome, because we ourselves have been welcomed.
Maybe you've spent a good portion of your life wondering whether you really belong. Maybe you've been told, directly or indirectly, that there's something about your story, your past, your questions, or your life that places you outside the reach of God's love.
If that's you, I hope you'll hear the good news in today's reading.
Look at Jesus.
See the Father's heart revealed in him.
The God who has made himself known in Jesus is not looking for reasons to keep you at a distance. He has come near. He has embraced our humanity. He has opened the way for us to share in his life.
And as we begin to believe that, something changes.
We become free to extend to others the same generosity, kindness, and love that we've received.
That's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's the prayer that I have for my family, for my wife and my daughters. And that's the prayer that I have for you.
May we have eyes to see what God has already made clean. May we recognize his presence in unexpected people and places. And may we learn to live as people who know that, in Jesus Christ, the welcome of God is wider and more wonderful than we ever imagined.
And remember, friends, you are loved.
