Daily Devotional

The fact that the high priest and his council dared to face the men who miraculously vanished from prison and even threatened them teaches me that no matter how many battles we fight and win, our enemies will not rest. Satan knows how powerful God is, but he never stops waging battles with God’s children. Temptations never really end.

When the apostles were arrested, God was silent. God allowed the jailers to secure the prison doors because He wanted to prove that no chain, padlock, piece of metal, wood, bronze or any created object could stop the Gospel. Even those who never heard the Gospel heard that the apostles were imprisoned but found in the temple preaching. In other words, throwing the apostles in prison further helped to spread the Gospel.

The secret to practising what these early believers did is refusing to be possessed by what you own. Becoming rich is not a sin, but being possessed by one’s wealth is a sin. Once upon a time, a rich young man asked Jesus about the secret of inheriting eternal life. Out of love for him, Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor, after which he could return to follow Jesus. The young man walked away sorrowfully. The believers in today’s first reading did exactly what Jesus asked the young man to do. They did this because their possessions did not possess them.