All That and Willing to Learn



Acts 18:24-28
24Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.
25He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.
26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
27And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed,
28for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

As happens to me quite frequently while reading the Bible, I come across a person I would really love to meet. Apollos is one of those people. This account of his faith is fairly short but in just a few verses you really get a sense of this guy. He is eloquent, competent, fervent, bold, powerful, helpful – and humble. No, the word humble doesn’t appear in the text, but his willingness to be instructed displays this trait quite well. I also admire the choices that Priscilla and Aquila made. Instead of taking him on publicly, showing everyone where he had erred, they pull him into private conversation and bring instruction. He humbly takes in what they share with him and his ministry is enhanced and moves forward in powerful ways. All in all, he comes across as a great guy and I would love meet someone with this gift mix.

Apollos is clearly an extraordinary person. But even with all of these great character traits going for him he is willing to be instructed – by a woman, might I add. He is so willing to have his mind changed by the truth that he becomes a valuable asset for the disciples. This is who I want to be; someone who is willing to humbly learn something new or have my thinking corrected. It’s pretty simple, but so inspiring.

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