He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized. He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household. (Acts 16:33-34)
As we have seen throughout the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit started working, people were drawn to God, people repented of sins, and lives were transformed quickly. In today’s reading, the Philippian jailer is the perfect example of what happens when God gets a hold of someone’s life. In one night, this jailer went from punishing Paul and Silas, to almost committing suicide for failing to do his job, then hearing the Gospel of Jesus, receiving Christ, then being baptized with his family, and completing this total 180-degree change by living a life of serving God.
I have always been a proponent that nothing good happens after midnight. But on that night, there were a lot of great things that were happening when God turned a miraculous jailbreak into the unlikeliest form of evangelism for a man and his family who were persecuting Christians.
How was this family saved? Paul shared the Gospel with the entire household and gave them an opportunity to receive Jesus. How was the jailer’s life transformed? At the same hour, this jailer who was earlier punishing Paul and Silas, began to care for their wounds that he inflicted upon them and also provided food and nourishment for them. This same man, who earlier had suicidal fears at the thought of failing at his job, is now fully rejoicing because he and his family have Jesus in their lives. This is how a life that is truly transformed by the Holy Spirit looks like.
Maybe for you, it has been a long time since you first believed in Jesus. For others, maybe you have come to Christ through this pandemic. We praise God for drawing us to His Son, Jesus. What better way to show our gratitude to God than by living our lives to please Jesus through our actions, words, and thoughts every day? Let the world see what a life transformed by the Gospel looks like, and I’m sure others will want that, too.