Very Ordinary Men

Galileans! In the days when Jesus walked this earth many people dismissed him as someone unimportant. Why? Because he was a Galilean — he was Jesus of Nazareth (in Galilee) and people turned up their noses and said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" So it was that on the day of Pentecost people were completely bewildered that Galileans of all people should be speaking in the languages of the many people in Jerusalem at that time. Galileans were country folk who spoke with a very distinctive accent, but not usually foreign languages!

Throughout the history of the Christian church, God has often used very ordinary people to be his great proclaimers of the Gospel. Paul the apostle said that in his time: "...not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth." (1 Corinthians 1:26). They were just ordinary people, as were most of the disciples of Jesus. Of course God often does use some extraordinary people to spread the Gospel message to people across the world. But for the most part he does this through ordinary folk who are happy to spread the Gospel to their friends as they live and work together. And as we see from these Galileans, very ordinary men can change the world for Christ when the Holy Spirit lives in them.

Prayer

Dear Lord, take my ordinary life and use it for your glory. Amen.