And the voice came to him again a second time, What God has cleansed and pronounced clean, do not you defile and profane by regarding and calling common and unhallowed or unclean. (Acts 10:15 Amplified)
This scripture is often used to talk about food - how, as Christians, we can eat all foods without the restricting Law that the Jewish people of Christ's day could not. Actually, though, this verse is referring to Peter's hesitancy to preach to the Gentiles, and one in particular - a man named Cornelius.
God, however, used a vision of unclean animals to speak to Peter. Three times a sheet filled with all sorts of animals was lowered. A voice told Peter to eat. Three times, Peter refused, saying that he had never before partaken in anything that was unclean. Three times, the voice said, "Do not call anything unclean that I have made clean."
Then some men came to take Peter to Cornelius' house. He went and preached to the man. Interestingly enough, the man not only responded to the message and repented, but so did his entire household.
In verse 34, Peter responds thus, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right."
I think there's a whole lot we can learn from this passage. The biggie for me, however, is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts all who willingly come to Him for forgiveness and seek to follow Him. It matters not whether we are young or old, fat or thin, black, white or yellow, man or woman, Jew or Greek. He only looks for one thing - a repentant spirit.
If God made you "clean" with the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, you are His child. Praise God!
If you have not made the decision to follow Him, I hope you'll consider it now. It's not too late.
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