To be fully HUMAN — A Daily Reflection

 

Acts 3:11-16 NIV

 

I can just see the crowd, can’t you?  Probably several hundred people were milling around at this point, watching in amazement as this crippled beggar was made whole.  Standing in awe as the little man jumped and danced with joy at his new-found legs.  And they all looked to Peter.  Although there surely were detractors who were not mentioned - those people who said, "It’s a trick!  The man wasn’t really crippled.  This man’s faking!" - most of the people were amazed at what had happened.  Day after day, they had seen the crippled man at the gate.  They knew he’d been there for years, begging.  They’d seen his crippled legs.  Now, suddenly, his legs worked!  They were normal!  There was no sign of the twisted, useless legs he’d had since birth.  And, again, they all looked to Peter.  Peter had the POWER.  Peter was a miracle worker!  Peter could heal!

 

It would have been a very natural thing for Peter to take his bows, accept the crowd’s adulation, pat himself on the back for being able to heal, and ask for donations to his faith ministry.  I mean, you could have put this guy on TV, and he’d have made a fortune, right?  He had the "touch".  Peter was a healer, right?  Wrong!  Peter could do nothing without Jesus.  Peter knew who had healed the man.  Peter knew where credit should be given.  And he gave it.  He told the crowd who had done all the work.  He made it very clear that he neither deserved nor wanted any credit for making the man’s legs whole.  And then he proceeded to tell the unbelieving crowd about Jesus.

 

You and I are very good at giving God credit for miracles in our lives… if we’re talking to Christians.  We can dive straight into the Christian "lingo", spilling the details of the problem and God’s solution that He delivered to us in a miraculous way.  We can talk all day to other Christians about how gracious God is to us, how we can see Him working all around us, sharing the Good News back and forth with each other, feeding our faith.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  We need the encouragement of other Christians to keep us moving, to build us up, to refresh our memories, to reprove us when we’re wrong and keep us on track.  But how many of us have the courage to speak up the same way with our non-Christian friends and acquaintances?  How many of us will give credit where credit is due in front of people we know might be hostile to what we are about to say?  Whether out of fear or shame, we clamp down and refuse to speak up about Jesus over and over again.  And one lost soul after another is denied the blessing of hearing the Good News of Jesus.

 

Look for opportunities to give credit to God for what He’s done.  Share your faith with others at every opportunity.  Be the witness He wants you to be.  And give others the opportunity to have what you have!

 

"If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels."  Mark 8:38 NIV