At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Acts 10:1-4
“To Cornelius one afternoon at the regular hour of prayer a heavenly messenger appeared in a vision. His initial alarm at being address by such a visitant was overcome when he was assured that his faithfulness in prayer and almsgiving had not been overlooked by God but had been accepted by him as a worthy oblation. The angel’s language is full of sacrificial terminology such as we find in the prescriptions for the levitical offerings; Cornelius’ acts of piety and charity had ascended into the divine presence like incense or the smoke of a sacrifice. God would honor the “memorial” with a suitable response; the nature of that response would be made clear to Cornelius if he sent to a certain house in Joppa and invited one Simon Peter, who was a resident there, to come and visit him.”
F. F. Bruce in The Book of Acts, revised (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988) 204.
God sees. In this case he sees a generous military man, perhaps the last person any of us would think would be generous, and responds.
It’s another example of the lesson we learned yesterday. Like the poor Macedonians, we must not think we know who will be generous. Often it will be the last one we’d expect. And God not only sees it all, He responds. He sees who gives and prays and who does not. And He gives a suitable response.
Based on your generosity, what would God’s suitable response be to you?