Why do the nations rage?

In Acts 4:25, Luke quotes Psalm 2:1,2 in the middle of a situation where Peter and John had just been threatened by the religious leaders of that day and told “not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 2:18b, NKJV) When they returned to the other believers and told them of this the believers responded by saying, “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why do the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.'” (Acts 4:24b-26, NKJV) How much is this like today?

There are many voices in the United States that rage against, as the NIV puts it “[God’s] anointed one.” They are to the point where even the federal government is trying to quiet the voices of God’s people. We see laws coming into effect that try to curb our freedom of religion and speeches at Christian gatherings that try to unjustly compare us to the Islamic terrorists that kill many daily.

The fact is that people are offended by and fear the power of God in this world. When we, as his people, speak and the power of the Holy Spirit is heard in our words and seen on our faces, it scares them. When we stand up for life, which is a basic human right, we are demonized as woman haters. When we stand up for a person’s right to live by their convictions we are labeled as haters of those that disagree with our convictions. We must always stand up for what is right whether it is popular or not.

Even though this sounds rather negative, we can take courage in the fact that we serve the one, true, living God who is the creator of all things. The Jews and Christians are the only ones who can say this, I just pray that the Jews will see that Jesus is their Messiah. We, as followers of God’s anointed one, must always live our lives as “little christs” as the name “Christian” is defined. How do we live this way? By living a life of love for all. Love is a verb, we must live a life of action to love everyone enough to let them know of the hope we have in Christ. It may be serving in a soup kitchen for the homeless, visiting the hospitals or nursing homes, visiting those in prison so they too can accept Christ, or it may be driving your neighbor to the dentist.

If you are a follower of Christ and have accepted him as your savior, you must live this life. We, as Jesus’ followers, must stay in the Word and be in constant communication with God so that we can know what he would have us to do. Thus, my challenge, draw closer to God so that you may be his witnesses to the nations that are raging against us.