Gratuitous nature of God love

 The word of God

A man named Simon had preceded Phillip to this town. With his magic tricks, he dazzled the people of Samaria and pretended to be a great person. Everyone swore by him, from the smallest, to the largest, and it was said, "He is the power of God, that which is called the Great. He had been amazed them from a long time with his magic tricks so they swore by him. But when Phillip announced to them the kingdom of God and the saving power of Jesus, the messiah, they believe in him, and both men and women come to be baptized. Simon himself grows and is baptized, he does not let go of Phillip and he does not get over it when he sees the signs and the great miracles that had happening.

The apostle who remained in Jerusalem already knew that in Samaria the word of God had been received; so they send them Peter and John. They made the journey and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet come down on any of them: they were only baptized in the name of Lord Jesus. But then their hands were laid on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

When Simon saw the Holy Spirit given by the impulse of the hands, he introduced himself as a buyer. "Give me this power," he said to them, "that I too can lay my hands on and people receive Holy Spirit."

Peter said to him: "your money can be lost with you! How did you plan to acquire the gift of God by buying it? You have nothing to hope for this matter, it is not your place for your heart is not right before God. You must repent for this aberration and pray the Lord to forgive you, if possible, for your plan. Because I see on your road only gall and the bonds of evil."

Simon replied, "Pray yourselves to the Lord for me that nothing you say happens to me."

The apostles give a testimony. After having heard the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem; this had enabled them to bring the good news to several Samaritan villages.

Ac 8, 9-25. The People's Bible

Conversion: the greatest of miracles

Simon the magician. This man practiced "magic". This magic made people think he was "the power of God". But, after the arrival of Phillip whom he had outstripped in Samaria, to proclaim his sterile wonder "magic", he witnessed a prolific "magic" he had never seen. A "magic" of change, of renunciation, a "magic" of conversion. The proof, many men, women, and children once, in the grip of the "magic" of the "magician" Simon, have decide to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Simon himself was baptized. He decided to give up his old "magic" which produces nothing to follow the one of Jesus which changes lives.

Unlike Simon's magic, the wonder that Jesus' magic arouses produces fruits of conversion. If Jesus is a God of miracles, it is because the effects of his omnipotence lead to conversion; wherever Christ is found, there are always miracles happening; and the greatest of all is conversion. When people decides to follow Jesus, their darkness will turn into light and the change will be felt by all. Where the word of God passes, testimonies are piled up by the power of the Holy Spirit who change and lead believers in the path of the life. 

After the work done by Phillip, Peter and John came to lay their hands on the Samaritans who decided to accept the Lord Jesus into their life. Simon the "magician" suggest to the apostles to buy that power so that he too can lay hands on people without knowing that, this form of "magic" cannot be bought. It's a gift from God. Severely resumed by Peter, he begged the apostles to pray for him, so that, the Lord would have pity on his misconduct.

The useless servant

A man of God does not sell his services to others. He's not an individual who just wants to make profit. But his main concern is the proclamation of the Gospel to change lives not for his own glory but for the glory of God. If the man of God gives himself freely out of love for God for the sake of the sheep, the sheep must receive what is given to them or offered freely with love. We try to be more explicit by saying that, by buying or selling a free gift from God, we seek and contribute to our own glory. However, even though the human spirit often proves pettiness, we must differentiate between buying a fruit of God's free gift as a contribution to the spreading of the Gospel and buying a free gift from God to spread bad vibes in our communities.

The love of free service is not only limited to the level of man of God? Every child of God must also have an unnecessary servant spirit. Whatever profession we practice, we must proclaim the word of God there. If we have a job to do, we must do it very well because others are waiting for the service we are going to provide them so that we can move forward. To be of service to others and to be aware of this is a very great blessing. 

The urgency of a new impetus of evangelization

If bad morals have, in our opinion, taken precedence over useless service which aims to glorify the name of God through concrete acts, it is because children of God no longer want to continue to proclaim the good example. Even though the world tell us that we will never be wealth if we are honest, God assure us that we will be and remain poor if we continue in our dishonesty and our self-centeredness. We must continue to have consideration for others who are the visible representation of Christ whom we do not see. True development which includes an economic, social, and spiritual scale, always begins at the level of the individual. So it depends primarily on us.