LIFE SCRIPTS

Can we be captive to bitterness even when we think we’re free? The story of Simon the sorcerer gives us a clue to the answer. The book of Acts describes Simon the sorcerer as some form of a superstar in Samaria in his heydays. Verse 9 talks of him performing sorcery and ‘amazing all the people of Samaria’. Infact, so great was his work that he was referred to as the ‘Great Power of God’ in verse 10. However, the tables were turned on him in verse 12 when the Samaritans accepted the gospel through the ministry of Philip. Scripture says that as he proclaimed the good news of Jesus both ‘men and women’ were baptized in Samaria. Simon, the sorcerer also believed and decided to follow Philip everywhere he went. Simon’s life must have been disorganized by the events at play. His reputation as a man who could do wonders suddenly faced a free fall after the entrance of the evangelist called Philip. The signs and wonders he had been using to gain fame and also possibly to earn faced a challenge from the work of the Spirit of God. Possibly, the crowds that followed him dwindled. Ultimately, he accepted Christ in his life. But were his motives for accepting the gospel pure? We could only learn that once Peter and John visited the city for the impartation of the Holy Spirit upon people. In Simon’s mind, the Spirit of God was a substitute power to the one he had been operating with. His ’embrace’ of this newly found faith was not so much to serve God but to serve himself. He had been forced to swallow the bitter pill of abandoning his wicked practice. In the process, the people he had been deceiving had become liberated by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now the bitterness within him towards the works of God was being exposed as Peter stated in verse 23. At times bitterness hides and hides deep within. It reveals itself for what it is during situations which draw out the worst from us. However, during the best of times we seem good people with good intentions. These situations which draw out the worst from us are called trigger situations such as disagreements, discussions or engaging with others. During trigger situations, bitterness gets a choke hold of us leading to actions that result only in regret. However, the Spirit of God is not deceived by the camouflaged bitterness. Just in the same way Peter rebuked Simon the sorcerer, the Spirit of God will point out bitterness within us. If we allow Him to speak to the state of our hearts the filth that is within (including bitterness) will be brought to the surface. The ill feelings we have against others because of wrongs committed to us years ago will resurface, the grudges we hold so dear against those we are planning against will resurface, the hatred and anger we have against those who conned us will resurface. In the presence of the Spirit of God all rottenness will be laid bare for us to allow Him to redeem us.

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
Acts 8:9‭-‬24 NIV