Devotional Acts 3: The Healing of the Lame Man and Glory to God Reflection on Acts 3: the healing at the Temple, Peter's call to repentance, and why all greatness and talent come from God, not man. Topics: Devotional, New Testament.

Devotional Acts 3: The Healing of the Lame Man and Glory to God

My devotional today was on chapter 3 of the Book of Acts, and this was what happened.

Synopsis: In this chapter, Peter and John are on their way to the Temple when they meet a man lame from birth and heal him. The people who witnessed this miracle are amazed and follow them into the Temple. Peter, realizing that a crowd of people was gathering because of the miracle he had performed, began to preach to them.

Observations

These were my observations.

1. Our greatness comes from God. Peter, realizing that the people were amazed because they thought he performed miracles by his own abilities, alerted the crowd that the miracle he performed was only possible thanks to God. Peter warned them that Jesus, whom they handed over to be crucified, is God’s Christ whom all the prophets from Moses onwards prophesied would come from the tribe of Judah (house of David). Furthermore, Peter emphasized that the people betrayed Jesus when they insisted on crucifying Him even when Pilate declared that Jesus had committed no crime. Peter added that now the only option is to repent and turn to Christ so that our sins may be forgiven. And that his power comes from the covenant our fathers made with God, which was fulfilled with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This observation makes me think about how we tend to think that the things we can do with our talents are by our own merit. That is why many people are impressed by the greatness of human talent but forget the One who gave it to them. Nothing we do is by our own merit, especially when we realize that our lives are literally in God’s hands. Many people fall into the idolatry of men for this reason, attributing talents to individuals just as the Jews did with Peter and John when they healed the lame man. As Christians, we must not fall into the temptation and trap of thinking that human achievements are due to the individuals themselves. For we would be idolizing their capacities when in reality we should be worshiping God, understanding that He is the architect of all greatness in the universe (including ours).