Here in this section of Acts Peter and John come before the religious leaders of the day. There is all kinds of deliberation, and finally Peter and John are told to stop speaking in Jesus name. Essentially they are told to do the exact opposite of what they were commanded by Jesus. Their response is one of my favorites in Scripture, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God, For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."(V. 19). This is a very polite way of saying to the religious leaders, fat chance.
Is your experience of God one where you cannot help but talk about it? Peter and John had experienced Jesus in the flesh, and because of that experience they cannot turn back. They cannot keep quiet about their God. Often I wonder about peoples relationship with God, and my own for that matter, when we seem quiet about God. Maybe we do not feel like we are experiencing a God that is worth telling others about. Perhaps we are scared about how they will respond. Still we could all use more of what Peter and John felt. What would happen if we remembered it is God who gives us definition and life, not humanity? Would we be more vocal? Would we have a different experience of God?
No comments:
Post a Comment