Tuesday 12 May 2026 - What must I do to be saved?

Tuesday 12 May 2026

Today is Tuesday the 12th of May, in the sixth week of Easter. The Cape Town Camerata sings 'Nkosi Siphe' Amandla': ‘Lord, give us strength’. Today’s reading is from the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 16:22-34 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’ The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. We hear so many moments in this passage that could each have their own time of reflection. Take some time to consider each of the characters and moments in this text – Paul and Silas singing after their flogging, the jailer in his panic, then relief, then conversion, and the jailer’s family all coming to baptism. What strikes you? Spend a moment with the jailer...that feeling of utter relief. He has been ushered towards God in an astounding turn of events. Have you ever felt a similar way? As you listen again, try to imagine the scene in all its drama and notice what you are drawn to in it. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’ The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. Let your reflections draw you into God’s presence. Talk to God about what strikes you in this scene, or simply rest in God’s presence, aware of how you are and how God is with you. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be World without end Amen