New life in Jesus changes all of our relationships. He reconciles sinners back to the Father, incorporates them into the community of faith, then equips and sends them to be his witnesses in the world.
The account of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch reinforces the truth that deep intimacy with Jesus, coupled with radical yieldedness to his will, always results in eternity-impacting encounters.
The unprecedented circumstances surrounding the inclusion of the Samaritans into the Christian church demanded the exceptional methods of Acts 8:17. Perhaps it was the only way the two sides of the Samaritan curtain could have ever found both Christ and each other. Who is your Samaria? Who does God want you to be reconciled to? What extraordinary methods will it take to get you to step out of your bubble and go out to witness to and touch and welcome into the community of Christ?
What is the one essential thing that matters most when it comes to this business of eternal life? It is to trust, to follow, and to be with Jesus. He has done for us what no one else can do. By his work on the cross, he releases us from the curse of the law, and by the giving of his Spirit, he writes the very essence of the law upon our hearts.