Witness: I Can’t Help It!
Scripture Reading — Acts 4:8-20
“As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
When we see or experience something extraordinary, usually we can’t help telling people about it. Whether it is an encounter with a celebrity or a wonderful vacation or a life-changing event, we want to share it. As a young teen, I witnessed the launch of one of the first space shuttles. You can be sure I told all my friends about it when I got back home!
This week, as we think about God’s big mission, let’s focus on our second word, witness. We give witness, or testimony, about God’s work of salvation because God calls us to do so, and the Holy Spirit has come to help us (Acts 1:8).
But we are also motivated internally. If we have experienced the saving love and power of God, and it has completely changed who we are and how we live, how can we not talk about it?
In our passage today, we read that the apostles Peter and John caused a stir among the religious leaders in Jerusalem by healing a lame man. Those leaders wanted to know by what power or authority they had done this work. Peter, bold as ever, declared that they served Jesus and Jesus alone. And as for their work of speaking about Jesus and ministering in his name, how could they keep from sharing about all they had learned from the Savior? Likewise, may our lives spill over with the joy of our salvation!
Dear Jesus, as this passage reminds us, “salvation is found in no one else” but you. May my life overflow with excitement and joy that because of your great love, I belong to you. Amen.
About the author — Kevin DeRaaf
Kevin DeRaaf is the director of Resonate Global Mission, the Christian Reformed mission agency working in more than 40 countries around the world. With a focus on encouraging others to join in God’s mission where they are, Kevin believes that God’s purpose for the local church is to shine as a community of love and grace, showing in tangible ways that Jesus is the hope of the world. He and his wife, Jacquie, have three children and four grandchildren and live in Burlington, Ontario.
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