26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33
In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
-Acts 8:26-40
Obedience to God leads to eternal significance. As an AYL leader, a lot of high school kids and even college students ask me, “Mr. Juan, what’s my purpose in life?” This is an incredibly crucial question. I think for a lot of people that ask me this question, they are thinking about career paths. They are thinking about what their jobs will be when they grow up—doctor, lawyer, teacher, business person, etc.
Careers are important and I do believe that God does call us to different careers, but our careers do not give us purpose. They are but tools for the greater purpose of knowing God and furthering His Kingdom.
When we serve God by serving people, we’re accomplishing our true purpose in life. We’re fulfilled in a way no job or no career can fulfill us by itself. Only when our jobs and careers are used for godly purposes do they begin to fulfill us.
Philip here demonstrated how a life of obedience to God leads to eternal significance. He obeyed God by meeting with this government official from Ethiopia. Philip, as a Jew, probably didn’t interact much with Africans, and yet here he was sharing the gospel with this Ethiopian government worker. Philip’s faith helped him to reach out to those who come from a difficult cultural background than himself. Do I dare say that perhaps Philip’s faith helped him to overcome his own racism or biases toward another.
Ethiopia today has a predominately Christian population. Philip sharing the Gospel with this Ethiopian potentially led to the Gospel reaching Ethiopia for the first time, and today the Gospel is still thriving in this country. That’s eternal significance.
In what areas of your life do you need to surrender and obey God? Do so and watch God use you for an eternal significance.
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