The Bible is a collection of testimonies, that, if you pay attention, reveal what is hidden in plain sight in the overlaps and cross-references.
Take Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (the first one). Paul greets the church and mentions in the very first verse that this letter is written by him and Sosthenes.
Who is Sosthenes, you may ask? Well, he is none other than the ex-leader of the Corinthian Synagogue. Tradition has it that he took over from Crispus, the previous ex-leader of the Corinthian Synagogue when Crispus and his household became followers of Christ and got baptised. (Acts 18)
But we know Sosthenes because he was beaten up in a Roman court for defending Paul (Acts 18:17)
Sidenote: There were a lot of people beaten up, beheaded, stoned, crucified and jailed because of whom the world today tries to claim was a “mythical” person made up of various stories from different cultures!
Anyhoo…
Acts 18 was the start of the Corinthian Church. But here’s the thing… Sosthenes was called by God before Christ was crucified. He was called to keep the hearts of Israel pure and their minds focused on the Eternal God.
Sosthenes had Faith in God. He kept his eyes on the God he knew to be true. He stuck to his original calling regardless of doubts and setbacks and public opinion. God called him to keep the Faith for the Jews, and that’s what he did, even after his own “church” beat him up.
Now he is still busy, writing with Paul, a letter that speaks to that same purity of heart and clean Faith.
Sosthenes is a perfect, if unheralded example of Sticking to your calling when everything goes wrong, because God’s Word will not run out of power to complete what it was set out to do.
Be absolutely blessed, and remember: You are divinely appointed!
Be a blessing to everyone around you!
