The Bonfire at Ephesus
"So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed." — Acts 19:20
What New Believers Did With Their Past
Ephesus was one of the most religiously saturated cities in the ancient world. It housed the temple of Diana, one of the wonders of the age, and it was famous throughout the empire for its magical arts. Ephesian scrolls of incantations were a recognized commodity.
Then Paul came, and many of these people came to Christ.
What did they do with their heritage? Did they preserve it? Curate it? Display it as cultural history?
"And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver." (Acts 19:18–19)
Four Things Worth Noticing
They confessed openly. "Came confessing and telling their deeds." They did not quietly dispose of things while keeping their history private. They named what they had done.
They burned the books rather than selling them. They could have recouped an enormous sum. They did not pass the problem to another buyer.
They did it publicly. "In the sight of all." This was a visible, communal, unmistakable break with their past. There was no going back and no ambiguity about where they stood.
Luke records the value. Fifty thousand pieces of silver — reckoned by many scholars as the equivalent of many years of a laborer's wages. The Holy Spirit thought the number was worth writing down, because the cost was part of the point.
And Then the Verse That Follows
"So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed." (Acts 19:20)
That word so is the hinge of the whole passage. The growth followed the burning. It is not presented as a coincidence but as a consequence.
There is a pattern here that runs throughout Scripture and throughout church history. Where believers make a decisive, costly, public break with what belongs to darkness, the word of God advances. Where they hedge, it stalls.
The Cost Is the Point
Everyone reading this will be tempted at some point to keep something valuable.
The rare book. The antique. The expensive piece of art. The jewelry that would fetch a good price. The collection that took years to assemble.
And the reasoning always arrives ready-made: I could sell it and give the money to the church. It would be wasteful to destroy it. Someone else might want it.
Deuteronomy anticipated this precisely: "you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it" (Deuteronomy 7:25).
The Ephesians could have argued the same way. They burned it instead, and the word of the Lord grew mightily.
Point to Ponder
They burned it rather than sold it, and the word of the Lord grew. That sequence is not an accident.
Verse to Remember
"Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all… So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed." — Acts 19:19–20
Question to Consider
What am I keeping because it is worth too much to destroy?
Today's Practice
Finish what the earlier lessons started.
Take everything you have identified that must go — every object made for another master, every occult item, every book, every charm, every piece of jewelry — and destroy it today.
Burn what will burn. Break what will not. Do not sell it. Do not donate it. Do not give it to a relative. Do not store it in the garage "for now."
Do it with your household present if you have one, so the break is visible and shared.
As each thing goes, speak: "In the name of Jesus Christ, I renounce this and everything it represents. I break every curse attached to it and command every spirit associated with it to leave my home and my family now and never return."
Then thank God, and expect Him to move.
Prayer
Father, I have been counting the cost of obedience instead of the cost of disobedience.
Give me the resolve of the believers at Ephesus. They burned what they could have sold, publicly, and You honored it. I want that kind of clean break.
Where I have been negotiating with You over the value of something, forgive me. I release it. It is not worth what it is costing me.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I renounce every unclean thing in my possession and everything it represents. I break every curse attached and command every spirit associated with it to leave my home and my family now and never return.
Now, Lord, let Your word grow mightily and prevail — in me, in my house, and through my life. In Jesus' name. Amen.
They could have sold it for a fortune. They burned it, and revival followed.