Sunday, February 5, 2012

Beautiful


2/3/2012
Acts 3:10- “They recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

Interpretation: They recognized her as the same girl who used to go out partying and were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to her. They recognized him as the same boy who used to get in fist fights every opportunity he could. They recognized her as the same girl who used to struggle and suffer daily with an eating disorder and distorted body image. They recognized him as the boy who would put a needle in his arm. They recognized her as the girl who would dye her hair blue, self mutilate, and pierce anything she could. They recognized him as the same guy who would be shy and quiet, keeping to himself, stuck in his own head. The girl who would sleep around. The boy who was abusive. The judgmental religious one. The high school outcast. The alcoholic. All of these people are easily recognizable from the outside; They were ALL sitting outside of the beauty. Day after day, wasting away. But then something happened to them that filled everyone with wonder and amazement. It wasn’t rehab, it wasn’t getting a new job, it wasn’t making more friends or becoming more popular. It wasn’t winning the lottery, thinking positive, or buying a puppy. These things don’t make those things disappear in our hearts. So what happened to these people? What happened to the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful? People were filled with wonder and amazement at this man who didn’t even have the ability to walk. How did this happen? He was the same man - but something had changed about him that was undeniable. He was healed, and he held this incomparable joy. He received Jesus Christ by someone willing to share with Him. Peter offered this freedom to a man who people had probably passed by, judged, overlooked, sold short, or forgotten about his whole life. Who knows what the Lord would do if we shared Christ with certain people. People are sitting around, day after day, lame and begging for something to take the pain of a hopeless life away. And we have the answer. And why do people wonder and amaze at 180 degree changed lives? Because they are truly wonderful and amazing!

Application: I’m going to write a letter to my aunt and uncle thanking them for the care package and explaining more of what God is doing in my life, and pray for them to receive it with soft fertile hearts.


No comments:

Post a Comment