Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Acts 1-2
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 1
Key Verse
Acts 2:11 — “Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.”
Devotional Thought
The book of Acts opens where the Gospel of Luke left off, with the risen Christ standing among His apostles on the Mount of Olives. For forty days He had shown Himself alive “by many infallible proofs,” speaking of the kingdom of God. Now He gives them a final charge: wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father—the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The disciples, still thinking of earthly thrones, ask if He will now restore the kingdom to Israel. But Jesus redirects their gaze: “Ye shall receive power… and ye shall be witnesses unto me.” Then He ascends, and a cloud receives Him out of their sight. Two men in white apparel appear with a promise that He shall come again in like manner.
What strikes me on this first day of a new year is the posture of the early believers between the ascension and Pentecost. They did not know what was coming. They had a promise but no timetable. Yet verse 14 tells us they “continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.” One hundred and twenty souls, including Mary the mother of Jesus and His brethren, gathered in an upper room, waiting on God. They did not rush ahead or fall back. They prayed. And when Pentecost fully came, the Spirit descended like a rushing mighty wind, and cloven tongues of fire sat upon each of them. Peter, who had denied his Lord, stood and preached with boldness, and three thousand souls were added in a single day.
Psalm 1 is a fitting companion to this reading. The blessed man is like a tree planted by rivers of water, bringing forth fruit in season. That is exactly what we see in Acts 2: the disciples, rooted in prayer and the apostles’ doctrine, bore fruit abundantly. They continued steadfastly in fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayers, and “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” The ungodly, by contrast, are like chaff driven by wind—here today, gone tomorrow.
As we stand at the threshold of 2025, we may feel the same uncertainty the disciples felt in that upper room. We do not know what this year holds. But we know the One who holds it. The command is the same: wait on God, pray with one accord, and be witnesses. Not in our own strength, but in the power of the Holy Ghost. The same Spirit who filled that upper room is available to us today.
Reflection
- The disciples waited in prayer for ten days before Pentecost. What would it look like for you to wait on God in prayer before rushing into the plans and decisions of this new year?
- Peter preached Christ crucified and risen, and three thousand were saved. Are you prepared to be a witness—in your Jerusalem, your Judaea, your Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth—with the same boldness?
Prayer
Lord God, we thank You for the promise of the Holy Ghost, who filled the disciples at Pentecost and empowered them to be witnesses of the risen Christ. As we begin this new year, plant us like trees by rivers of water, rooted in Your Word and steadfast in prayer. Give us one accord with our brothers and sisters, and grant us boldness to proclaim Jesus as both Lord and Christ. Let our delight be in Your law, meditated upon day and night, that we might bring forth fruit in season. Save us from the counsel of the ungodly, and add to Your church daily such as should be saved. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 1:1 — “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”