Ride Out Front
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Acts 19:20 (NASB95) So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.
COWBOY WISDOM
The new converts in Ephesus had been raised worshipping the goddess Diana. They'd grown up steeped in magic formulas and superstitions — it was all they'd ever known. But when the gospel got hold of them, something unmistakable happened. They didn't ease out the back door of their old life and quietly slip into the new one. They came out in the open, gathered their books of magic, and lit them on fire in a public place for the whole city to see. They made a public profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus that nobody could miss. In the words of Acts 19:18-19, "Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." Fifty thousand pieces of silver — thrown on the fire without a second thought. That's what it looks like when a man is truly converted.
It's like any rodeo event — your performance at the start is critical. Every contestant knows they need to do their very best right out of the gate to get the jump on the competition. The sermon puts it plainly: when new converts make a weak stand when they first get saved, they follow through with that same weakness. But when they make a strong stand, they remain strong. The Ephesian believers certainly had the edge on their opposition — which is Satan — because they came out swinging from the very first moment. And God honored that bold beginning with an extraordinary revival. As the Scripture declares, "So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing." (Acts 19:20). The Word grew because the people made room for it to grow by clearing out everything that stood against it.
Friend, the Lord isn't looking for a cowboy who eases halfway into the saddle and calls it riding. He's looking for men and women who will mount up fully, grab the reins, and ride out front with their colors flying. A halfhearted start almost always leads to a halfhearted finish. Anytime we hear someone downplaying the Scriptures — it doesn't matter if it's a preacher or a lawyer — it should immediately send up a red flag. The world is in need of the Word of God to grow mightily. That growth begins when believers decide, once and for all, to make a strong stand and never look back.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
When you first came to faith in Christ, did you make a bold, public stand or did you try to keep it quiet? How has that shaped your walk with the Lord since then?
Is there anything in your life — habits, relationships, possessions — that belongs in the fire but you haven't thrown there yet? What's holding you back?
The sermon warns against anyone who downplays Scripture in favor of logic or cultural opinion. Where do you see that pressure most in your own life?
What would it look like for the Word of God to grow 'mightily and prevailingly' in your home, your church, or your community right now?
PRAYER FOCUS
Lord Jesus, I don't want to be a halfhearted rider. Give me the courage of those Ephesian believers who threw their old lives on a public fire and never looked back. Show me what still needs to go in the flames — what I've been protecting that has no place in a life surrendered to You. Let the Word of God grow mightily in me, not just in my beliefs but in my choices, my habits, and the trail I leave behind. In Jesus' name, Amen.
