What Must I Do?

And he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? So they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household. 

Acts 16:30-31 

The man who uttered the first question of our text was a Roman jailer. He feared for his life. Paul and Barnabas had run afoul of some human traffickers in Philippi by casting a demon out of the girl from whom they were profiting. Having lost their money-maker, they turned on the apostles and had them beaten and jailed. In the middle of the night God sent an earthquake to the prison, opened all the doors and loosed the shackles. The jailer assumed everyone was running for their freedom. If they got out, he was a dead man. The Roman Empire took such things very seriously. He was about to commit suicide when Paul called to him saying, ‘Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.’ Hearing this he called for a light, fell down before Paul and uttered his question. Paul answered as we find in our text. He answered the question in the most spiritual way. This was not just a matter of personal survival, but was of eternal importance. Paul preached Christ to him immediately. The result was he took Paul and Barnabas back to his own home, washed their whip wounds, fed them, and became a believer, being baptized along with his whole household. This was a most outstanding conversion. It points us to the power of Christ to transform someone in the most remarkable of ways. Out of the worst of human conditions He brings the most exceptional results. In the most dire straits, Jesus saves.  

Our Glorious, Saving God, 
we rejoice that You save people out of the hardest of circumstances. 
We praise You that You do this in every generation, 
over the whole earth. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning