Worth Repeating - February 12, 2017

Acts 4: 20 “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Speaking what one has seen and heard is the essence of witnessing.*

One night, in my role as a camp counselor, I was having trouble getting the little girls in my cabin to settle down and go to sleep. Finally, one little girl piped up, “There’s a room full of girls here and I just have to talk!”

Perhaps Peter and John could relate to that little girl. They were filled with the Spirit and bubbling over with good news to share. They literally were not able not to speak! Such exuberance was a new development for them. Remember when they were not so bold? Yet, here they were in court where one is supposed to tell the truth about what you have seen and heard and they are being commanded not to speak! Instead of quaking in fear, they are “willing to pay the price of this defiance with their lives.”*

As someone has pointed out, “A leader’s execution is not a usual recipe for heartening his followers,”* so what accounts for the difference in their demeanor? They were pumped because of what they had seen and heard. Have you ever witnessed something astonishing? I saw the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger; I saw (on TV) the airplane flying into the second tower of the World Trade Center; I saw a boy and his bicycle thrown across an intersection after colliding with a pick-up truck. When we see something like that, isn’t it our natural reaction to want to tell someone? Imagine being an eye-witness to the events that Peter and John had seen. What a story they had to tell!

Can you give a first-hand account of what you have seen Jesus do in your life?  How anxious are you to share your story with anyone and everyone – regardless of the consequences?

Actively sharing your faith solidifies your personal convictions.*