It was more than just their literature going up in flames that day . . . it was their hobby . . . their private pursuits . . . perhaps even, their livelihoods. The scrolls were valuable to those who were fascinated with the world of black magic . . . to those who experimented with trying to contact “the other side” . . . with conjuring up spirits from realms they probably had very little understanding of. The value of that which burned that day was 50,000 pieces of silver . . . perhaps in the neighborhood of $10,000 today if a piece of silver is understood to be a drachma. Whatever the dollar value, it was lots . . . and you got to know that it had an impact on both those who burned and on those who watched them burn.

And these few verses in Acts 19, vv. 18-20, have me thinking about the need sometimes to make a clean break with practices and activities that once were just part of doing life. The “many” who burned their books that day were believers (v.18). They had recognized their need of salvation. . . . by God’s grace and through faith, they had embraced Jesus as their Savior . . . they understood, to some degree, that they had been brought into a new kingdom, one not of this world, . . . and now, now they were trying to figure out what it meant to live in that kingdom . . . what it meant to live under the authority of the Lord who inhabited them through His Spirit. And today . . . it involved book burning.

The fact that this bon fire activity is recorded right after the incident involving the seven sons of Sceva, itinerant Jewish exorcists who had undergone a whoopin’ at the hands of some evil spirits, I’m thinking is significant. Word had got out about the encounter . . . Jesus they knew . . . Paul they recognized . . . but to these evil spirits, the seven sons of Sceva and their “power” was a joke. And, as the word started to circulate, fear fell upon the people and the Lord Jesus was extolled (Acts 19:13-17) . . . and the believers who were used to “playing” in this arena realized that it needed to be a thing of the past.

So, these children of God confessed their practices . . . they openly divulged that they dabbled in “magic arts” . . . they agreed with God that such pursuits were wrong, were sin, . . . and they repented . . . time for a 180 degree turn. And the evidence? . . . burn the books. Not sell the books and try and recoup some of the losses, but burn the books . . . get rid of them . . . get rid of them publicly . . . stand for the things of the kingdom.

Christianity was making a difference in the lives of people. Or, as Luke records, “So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” (19:20)

The turning continued. They had turned to Jesus on the day of salvation . . . and they continued to turn as they understood more the implications of that salvation. As the word increased . . . as believers grasped more of what Christ had done and what they had been saved into . . . the “turning” continued . . . and so did the burning. The Word increasing . . . minds changing . . . people confessing . . . books burning.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2Cor. 5:17).

Oh, the danger of thinking I’ve got it nailed . . . that all the changing in thought patterns that needs to be done has been done . . . that all the repenting that needs to occur has occurred. Oh, that the word of the Lord would continue to increase . . . that my redeemed mind might continue to be brought into marvelous light . . . and that the word would prevail mightily. Oh, that I, by God’s grace, would know what of that “old man” still needs to be dealt with . . . that the pursuit of “the new” might loosen the grip on “the old” . . . no matter the cost . . . or the perceived value of the books. Oh, that I might have eyes to see and ears to hear concerning those books that still need to be burned . . . for His glory . . . amen.