“So I sent for you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.””
Acts 10:33 (NLT)
Cornelius didn’t just wait for Peter—he gathered close friends and relatives and sat in God’s presence like the message was worth rearranging life for. When Peter arrived, Cornelius didn’t treat it like small talk. He said, “We are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.” That line confronts me: do I come to God like that—expectant, ready, and willing to receive whatever He wants to say?
Peter had his own struggle before he ever stepped into that home. For a Jewish man, crossing that threshold was against everything he grew up believing was “clean” and “unclean.” But God had already been working on him, showing him he could no longer label people as impure the way he used to. Peter didn’t even know all that God was doing in that moment—he came because the Lord told him to.
And God didn’t just ask Peter to associate with people he once avoided. God was calling him to love them all the way—to share the good news he had received, the whole truth. There is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. Peter had to realize the message wasn’t reserved for a certain background, resume, or nation. God shows no favoritism, and the invitation is wider than we think.
So here’s the question for us today: is there anyone God is calling us to love all the way? Not just close enough to be polite, but close enough to give them access to Jesus. If we keep the message to ourselves, people can’t hear it. Cornelius waited in God’s presence for the word of the Lord—how much more should we, who already know the Good News, live ready to receive it and ready to share it?