7 May, Tuesday — Become a Believer

Tuesday of the 6th Week of Eastertide

Acts 16:22-34
John 16:5-11

’Sirs, what I must I do to be saved?’

Brothers and sisters,

In today’s first reading, we are told of how Paul and Silas have been unjustly arrested, stripped and flogged. They are then locked up in the inner prison with their feet fastened in stocks. The gaoler (jailer) is also told to keep a close watch on them. Yet, while they are imprisoned, they pray and sing God’s praises which attracts the attention of other prisoners who listen.

Then comes the miracle: suddenly, an earthquake shook the prison to its foundations, causing all the doors to fly open, and the prisoners’ chains to fall off. The gaoler then wakes up to see the doors all opened. Presuming the prisoners have escaped, he moves to kill himself to avoid the likely punishment of death for him failing in his duty to keep a close watch on them. It is only when Paul shouts at the top of his voice, calling to the gaoler not to do himself any harm because none of the prisoners have left, that the gaoler rushes in to the inner prison and throws himself at the feet of Paul and Silas, before escorting them out saying, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Isn’t it ironic that the gaoler, the one told to guard and watch the prisoners, asks what he must do to be saved i.e. to be free. God had in fact used Paul and Silas in their experience of being imprisoned, to perform a miracle which ultimately leads to setting the gaoler free! This gaoler who had not known the Lord Jesus, came to know him through Paul and Silas’ unjust suffering in prison. And the gaoler who was meant to keep a close watch on Paul and Silas while they were locked up, ends up escorting Paul and Silas out of prison. He takes them to wash their wounds, brings his household to be baptised, and later shares a meal with them to celebrate their conversion. The gaoler, rather than the prisoners, is the real captive set free through his conversion to belief in the Lord Jesus.

Let this reading remind us that even when we feel chained and imprisoned, God is always using us as vessels. May we sing to him like Paul and Silas even in our suffering as that serves God’s will in bringing hope to others who are imprisoned like us. May we not doubt the power of God and his timing: that He can bring about earthquakes that will dismantle all the locked doors and chains which imprison us. May we have complete trust in God’s ways which trump any physical, emotional, social and spiritual barriers we face. And may we like the gaoler, seek complete conversion to belief in the Lord Jesus in all we do, so that we can live anew and free.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Stacey Fernandez)

Prayer: Lord, we pray that we may imitate Paul and Silas in praising you especially when we are in dire straits. Help up rejoice in you in all situations and at all times.

Thanksgiving: Jesus, thank you for giving us the grace to believe in you and using us as vessels of your divine grace so that others may come to believe in you too.