Threatening Devotion
5/28/25 Bible Thought (Acts 19)
One of the consistent things we find throughout the book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament is that conversion is a dramatic, life-altering event. To be dead in our trespasses and sins and then to be raised to new life in Christ will certainly have something to show for it.
In Acts 19, we see such a beautiful picture of this.
After a frightful and failed encounter between a demon-possessed man and some Jewish exorcists in Ephesus, “fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled” (Acts 19:17).
While the sons of Sceva had no power over demons because they didn’t actually know the Lord, those who knew Jesus portrayed a marked difference in their lives.
Luke recounts that many of the new believers confessed and divulged their practices (Acts 19:18). With this, many who formerly practiced magic arts came and destroyed their books, burning them before everyone (Acts 19:19). They were truly bearing fruits of repentance (see Matt. 3:8).
The sum value of this sacrifice? 50,000 pieces of silver!
In today’s world, this amount could be estimated at approximately six million dollars.[1] Their love for Jesus so trumped their old ways that they were willing to part with them entirely. They didn’t even try to put their items up for sale! These things were sacrificed as a whole burnt offering of worship to the true God without any leftovers.
Their new devotion to Jesus was so great than any former loves paled in comparison. They were radical. There was a new Lord in their life and as such there would be no competition. Everything else could be cast aside.
What is amazing to see, is that the early Christians caused societal upset because of their commitment to Christ. As Paul and his companions were once described as, “These men who have turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6).
But all of this was merely a byproduct of the growing number of Christians and their faith. Their aim was to spread the gospel and to see people converted, and conversions were so monumental that it had societal implications. As a result, after many of the believers burned the bridges to their former lives it was noticed. So much so that those in the idol-making business in Ephesus panicked.
Ephesus was the patron city of the Greek goddess Artemis, and her temple there was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.[2]
So, after one local silversmith criticized Paul as one who, “turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods” (Acts 19:26) there ended up being a large riot where the locals cried out with one voice for two hours in worship to Artemis (Acts 19:34).
The Christians had made waves in their world.
Not in their social policy, not in their tearing down of idols, but in their threatening devotion to Christ. The idol-makers knew they’d be out of business if people kept converting to Christianity because Christ was making such a difference in people’s lives!
I wonder what reputation Christians have in the eyes of the idol-makers of our day?
Is our devotion to Christ such that it causes us to abstain from the idols of our culture? Or is the average believer just as consumed with desires for success, wealth, sex, material things or what have you?
Does our present-day devotion ever seem threatening to the idols and demons of our day? Or do our lives mesh with the crowds who cry out in praise to the false gods all around us?
I pray we will be people of threatening devotion.
[1] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2127.
[2] Ryan Lokkesmoe, “Artemis,” The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
Very good perspective to have; I am sure we often see the response in the tools used to sway public opinion. I enjoyed your concept of threatening devotion!