We saw this on the wall of Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, where we took the Calvin College nephew for lunch yesterday here in Grand Rapids.I’m not quite sure what Jimmy John’s is asking patrons to believe in, but I thought of Acts 16, when Paul and Silas were in jail:
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose (Acts 16:25-26).
When the jailer woke up, he just about killed himself because he saw the prison doors open and thought all had escaped. But Paul called out, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family (Acts 16:29-34, emphasis mine).
The sign seemed that it could be a strong response to a big question . . . a question as big as the jailer’s that night:”What must I do to be saved?”And I think it needs the specificity that Paul added:”Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!”Believe!
Ann, thank you for a thoughtful and instructive lesson on the latter part of 16. The “Believe” sign is such an inspiration to me today and lifts me in a way that’s hard to articulate…I’ve been in the beginning of Acts 16…what a coincidence, or maybe not!