What do you have in your life that is worth something? What would you run back into your burning house to get? Would it be family photos? Your guitar? Would it be your safe? Your quilt that your grandma made you? What would you say you value?
What do you have in your life that you protect at all cost? Is it your status? Your wealth? Is it your safety? Your connection to family? What do you value?
In Acts 3 we have a story about Peter healing a crippled man and the crowd's reaction to that healing. At its root this story is a story of value.
The crippled man in the story was doing what beggars in Jerusalem did. He was sitting at the temple gate asking for money. When people gave him money, or any cripple for that matter, it blessed both him and the giver. Giving to the beggars in the temple court was a good thing to do.
However, when this man asks Peter and John for money this was Peter's reply. Verse 6 "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." And the man stood up and walked and ran and jumped around praising God.
"Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you."
What is it that Peter and John had? Do we have what they had?
Peter and John had the power of the name of Jesus. They had a cure to the root of the problem, not the symptom. They had something better.
I can imagine the gleam in Peter's eyes as he looked at this man and thought, "Money? Oh you have no idea. I have something so much better for you."
Do we have something better? You bet! We have the power of the name of Jesus. When we see hurting in the world everything but Jesus only cures the symptoms. Nothing else gets at the root of the problem... Jesus does.
So, what we have is priceless. Friends, silver or gold I do not have (trust me), but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, be free!
We have something of great value. Protect it. Treasure it. Savor it. Share it today.
I like this approach to that verse...what we think we want or what we think is valuable to us isn't always the best...God has something better.
ReplyDeleteI hope we are all as excited as the crippled man was when we received what he really needed. Makes me want to grab an unbeliever and pull them up so they can walk with Christ! If only evangelism was my gifting. I guess I can pull someone up with other ways. We need to act on that faith like Peter did.