The Encourager
“An Open Mind and a Honest Heart - by Jeff Curtis”
An Open Mind and an Honest Heart
By Jeff Curtis
In the account of the Ethiopian eunuch we read of an open-minded official we see that people with honest hearts, people who recognize their need for God – can be found in the world if we will simply look for them. We may fail to see these people because, like the eunuch, they hold important positions and we may think they won’t see their need for Christ. We may fail to see them because, like the eunuch, they are strong in the religious beliefs, and we think they will not listen to us. Let’s not prejudge any man but diligently search for good and honest hearts. When we find them, let us guide them to the Lord.
Consider the conversion from the standpoint of the eunuch. He knew nothing about the divine message given to Philip. For him, the story started with an obscure passage in Isaiah and Philip’s question “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30). He invited Philip into his chariot, and as they rolled along, Philip “preached Jesus to him” (v.35). Philip preached the gospel, God’s power to save. When the treasurer heard this message, he believed and obeyed it (vv.36-39). He wasn’t saved by some “feeling better felt than told,” (Romans 1:16; 10:17). God’s plan was to get the honest sinner and the preacher together – and then let the Word do its job. If you desire to be saved, don’t wait for mysterious “experience,” but rather hear the gospel, believe it, and obey it.
Although God’s intervention in this case doesn’t prove that the alien sinner must have a miraculous experience. It does demonstrate God’s concern for the lost, especially the lost who have “honest and good hearts” (Luke 8:15). It is implied that God will help honest searchers for the truth find the truth (Matthew 7:7-8). Many examples come to mind of men and women honestly trying to discover God’s truth who came in contact with every person who could teach them the truth under circumstances that cannot be explained as coincidence.
There is a story of a meeting that a young man had near Waco, Texas. He had grown up on the streets of Brooklyn but had moved to Dallas, Texas. One hot day, not long after he arrived in Dallas, he was travelling on a bus and started talking to a young woman seated beside him. She invited him to church. The young man wasn’t a church goer, but he didn’t know anyone in Dallas, so he went. The people were so friendly that he went back the following week to see them again. Soon he became a Christian. The story goes that he went around asking people, “Are you a Christian? Let me tell you how I became a Christian!” Think about this story for a moment. What are the odds against the young man sitting on the bus that specific time beside that specific young woman who would invite him to the worship services? Both Scripture and experience should convince us that if one is an honest searcher, God will providentially make a way for that one to learn the truth.
How important it is for each of us to have honest hearts (Luke 8:15), to be diligent searchers for God’s way (John 5:39; Acts 17:11), and to be lovers of truth (2Thessalonians 2:10).
Meditate on this:
Psalm 51:1,2
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
