Character Study: Apollos

I was feeling very unmotivated to write the blog, mainly because I did not have any idea what to write about but while I was reading my Bible today, I read this story, and inspired me to write today. I was all set to write on another topic but I am thankful to God for showing me this today.

In Acts chapter 18, there is a mention of a jew named Apollos whose characteristics, I wanted to highlight today which I think we can also inculcate in our life. He was from Alexandria, which was captured by Rome later known to become the major center of early Christianity. He had come to Ephesus to preach the Good news. I encourage you to open and read Acts 18: 24-28, to better understand these points so that it will be more effective.

1. He came all the way to Ephesus from Alexandria to teach the people about Jesus

• How willing are we to move to a completely different place and preach the Gospel, going from a comfortable place that you have been your entire life and starting all over again. God may take you to different countries, places, or situations and we must be willing to honor God and His direction in our life.

2. He was an eloquent speaker and knew the scripture well

• He knew he was a good speaker and he put his gift to use and began to teach the people of Jesus. The most important thing to remember, he knew the scripture well. It is important for us to know the Word of God, to understand it, and grow in the knowledge of God. We need to spend time to understand it and then use the gifts God has given us to share it with others just like Apollos did.

3. He taught people with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy

• He taught people with enthusiasm, excitement, and wonder which should be the way we look at telling others the Word of God. Not because you are forced to do it or I have to do it but with eagerness to share the gospel. He also did with accuracy because he spent time with the Word of God and trying to understand leaving no stone unturned and that is how we should be learning, spending our time with God, and reading His Word.

4. He was limited in his knowledge because, at that time, he only knew about John the Baptism and what he had said. Priscilla and Aquilla heard and took him aside and explained to Him accurately about Jesus Christ

• He was limited in His knowledge about Jesus Christ as he was in Alexandria and the Good news was slowly reaching everywhere but he was willing to accept, correct, and learn from the couple about Jesus Christ. In our journey in Christ, we will learn a lot of things and we may make mistakes but we must be willing to accept correction and understand because we might miss out on the truth. Apollos probably also realized he had a responsibility to the people out there to whom he was teaching because they needed to know the truth. We also have that responsibility to share the truth and when people like Priscilla and Aquilla come to correct us, we must be willing to understand.

5. He wanted to go to Achaia and teach people there and with the encouragement of brothers and sisters in Christ of Ephesus who even wrote a letter to the believers of Achaia to welcome him, he decided to go.

• He did not let this mistake prevent him from continuing to share the Gospel. We often get discouraged when we make a mistake and we just give up. You should not let that mistake prevent you but teach you and then teach others so that more and more people will come to know Christ. His eagerness to teach was more than the feeling of incapability to teach the Word of God that he might have felt. We can also learn from the page of brothers and sisters in Christ of Ephesus and encourage one another to share the gospel and walk an extra mile and do the best we can with what we have for others.

6. He proved to be a great benefit to those people who by God's grace, believed

• With all the encouragement, knowledge, correction, eagerness to teach people, he went to Achaia and by God's grace, people believed. His willingness to learn, teach and understand the Word of God bore fruit as many people came to Christ. When we do the same, we are planting seeds in people which will bear fruit.

7. He was able to shot down every argument by the Jews and explain about Jesus Christ, the Messiah because he knew the scripture well

• Again we see the importance of scripture and because he was prepared, he was able to refute every argument and tell about Jesus Christ. We need to ask God for wisdom to understand His Word through which we may be able to answer people's doubts, arguments and explain with confidence about Jesus Christ.

This is what we learn from Apollos today. I encourage you to dwell on this and understand what we must do as a servant of Christ. As I wrote today, spend some time in the Word of God and let Him speak to you. What is He trying to tell you today? Hope you guys have a great weekend.