Friday, September 3, 2021
Willing to Try
“The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 NLT).
The first-century believers had a sense of abandon about them. I think it’s one of the reasons that we don’t see the work of God on quite the same scale as the early church saw it.
For instance, God told Philip go to the desert and wait for further directions, and Philip did it. God told Peter to take a disabled man by the hand and pull him to his feet, and Peter went for it. They took risks. And God blessed them.
They simply were in love with Jesus, and they were willing to give things a try.
I would rather try and fail in my attempt to bring glory to God than to never try anything at all—and even worse, criticize others who try.
Periodically someone criticizes our evangelistic efforts or our music or this or that. But here’s my question for them: What are you doing to reach people for Christ?
We don’t do everything perfectly, of course, but we’re trying to do everything we can to reach more people with the message of the gospel. We’re willing to take risks. We’re willing to try things. And that’s how I think we all should be.
The first-century believers were that way. The book of Acts tells us that as Peter and John spoke to the people in the temple, the religious leaders arrested them and put them in jail.
The next day they stood before the Sanhedrin, where “the members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus” (4:13 NLT).
I hope the same can be said of us. Can people tell that we’ve been with Jesus?
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