Acts 3:12-19 (NRSV)
Read Acts 3:12-19 on biblegateway.com
Verse 12When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? Verse 13The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. Verse 14But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, Verse 15and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. Verse 16And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. Verse 17"And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. Verse 18In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Verse 19Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,
Devotion
Peter and John were headed to the temple in Jerusalem to pray one afternoon when they encountered someone looking for a handout at the gate called Beautiful. Rather than muttering a “Sorry, I don’t have anything on me” while uncomfortably avoiding eye contact—my usual lame approach to folks wanting help—Peter and John looked at him intently and invited the return glance. They spoke a word of healing in the name of Jesus and then proclaimed the good news of the Risen Lord—and the man sprang up into a renewed life.
We have words of healing and restored life to offer. Will we seek to let God speak through us and work power through us to bring goodness to life in others? Will we let others speak God’s promises and new life to us to bring goodness to life in our own places that need healing?
Prayer
Stir us to repentance, God, that life and hope may abound in us and through us. Amen.