The Apostles: Simon Peter Cephas-What’s for Dinner! (Copy)

Last time we talked about Peter and his keys. In Acts 10, we saw that Peter was chosen to be the one who helped open the doors of the Church for the Gentiles. How the LORD called Peter is very interesting. He was on the roof of a house praying when he got hungry. I can hear him asking, “What’s for dinner? Kosher, I’m sure.” The LORD uses this situation to send Peter a vision. It was in that vision that a sheet full of unclean animals were offered to him. “Get up, Peter, kill and eat.” a voice commanded. Peter said, “No LORD, I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice responded, “Do not call anything impure that GOD has made clean.” I think this would be natural for a person who was dedicated to Jewish doctrine, a part of the LAW of Moses. Peter had never disobeyed that LAW. Here’s the kicker, though. The LORD did this three times, yet Peter still did not fully understand the vision. It is interesting that there seems to be an association with Peter and the number three. Once Peter had entered the house of Cornelius, full of his Gentile friends, Peter understood the vision. I know how easy it is to get hung up on a pet dogma. I also know how hard it can be to change when another way is taught. On the positive side, it is good not to easily fall for other teachings. It is not good when we are shown a better way, more accurate teaching, yet still keep a stubborn hold on our much less accurate view. When my beliefs are challenged, it forces me to go back and restudy what the Bible actual says. I’m not easily taken in. If I finally see that my understanding was flawed, I then accept the better way. Like Peter, we all get hungry. I hope we stay hungry and keep searching the Holy Scriptures for the Truth. At the table of the LORD, GOD’S WILL is our portion. I hope we are all dedicated to understanding HIS WILL. It’s, ‘What’s for Dinner.”

Russell Ashby