October 09, 2019

The Author

Acts 3:11-26

“You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead.”

—  Acts 3:15

There seem to be two views on life.

In one view, I create my own future. After all, as the English poet W. E. Henley wrote, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”

So, in that view, I am the author of my life. Our society today often teaches this by saying, “Believe in yourself; you can be anyone you want to be.”

The second view on life is to recognize that Someone Else is writing the story of my life.

Peter, in Acts 3, indicts the crowd in Jerusalem for killing the true author of life—Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1:16-17, we read, “All things have been created through [Jesus] and for him. . . . and in him all things hold together.”

One way that we try to be “like God” (Genesis 3:5) is by attempting to write our own story. And when we do that, we too are killing the author of life!

Peter urges his hearers to repent so that their “sins may be wiped out” and “times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” In John 10:10, we hear Jesus say, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Surely the one who created all things has everything to make us thrive. He desires to write the next chapters of our lives. What a blessing!

Forgive us, Lord, for wanting to be the authors of our own lives. Please write the next chapters of our life journey, with you as our Lord and Savior guiding us. In your name, Amen.

About the author — Gerrit Bomhof

Gerrit Bomhof immigrated as a young child with his family from the Netherlands to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in 1954. He graduated from Trinity Christian College in 1972 and from Calvin Theological Seminary in 1976. He served as a pastor to five churches in Canada and retired in June 2017.

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