A Punctuated Life

Something I heard recently at a sermon given by Chilly Chilton really stood out to me. It has to do with the story of Stephen and how the Bible tells it. Acts chapters 6 & 7 speaks of Stephen, who was chosen as one of seven by the 12 disciples to distribute food daily to the widows of the church. These men were chosen so the disciples could continue giving their attention to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:3-4) The requirement of the seven men chosen was that they must be known as being full of the Spirit and wisdom. It lists the seven men chosen but Stephen gets a little more written about him. Specifically it says, "They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism." (Acts 6:5)

What I want to point out here is that two of the seven men were described a little, beyond their names. We know from the scripture that Nicolas is from Antioch and a convert to Judaism, giving us a bit of history about him. Stephen though is listed then we are told that he is a man Full of Faith and the Holy Spirit. This gives us terms of his spiritual life and character.

Another instance in Stephen's story is when he is before the Sanhedrin, it says, "All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel." (Acts 6:15)

The third place I want to point out is right before Stephen is dragged to the edge of the city to be stoned and right after he called out the Sanhedrin. It says, " When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of god. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man Standing at the right hand of God. " (Acts 7: 54-56)

Stephen gets three commas after his name to describe his faith and character! He is not simply listed, does not get just a period or maybe even worse a question mark. He gets a comma! When a comma is used after someone's name I see it as taking a moment to pause and speak highly of them. Another thing I want to point out is that Stephen describes Jesus as standing at the right hand of God. This is the only time in the Bible where Jesus is standing. I like to imagine that He is standing, possibly starting a slow clap, because he is proud of Stephen. Jesus gets up for the people with comma's in their life!

That is something I want to strive for in life. I hope that I can be a man of great character who receives a comma after my name. I want to live a life that God deems deserving of a comma. I believe a comma represents obedience to the God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. I hope that when my time is up I will deserve a comma. I hope that is your goal too!

Live a life worthy of a comma!