Shut yo mouth

Thanks for taking time to read my blog.  It will not always be the same format.  I intend to switch it up quite a bit.

Yesterday I was reading in the “one year Bible” and like a lot of times that I’m reading the bible I was struck by the story being told.  The story was in Acts 4:1-37.  To give you a quick synopsis, Peter and John had been teaching and preaching hardcore about Jesus. They had also (through the power of Jesus) healed a crippled man.  Word started to get around, they were arrested, and brought before a council for questioning.  The council, made up of some religious lawyers of the day, discussed the plight of Peter and John and decided to demand that they no longer preach or teach the name of Jesus.  In exchange, they could have their freedom. 

Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve read about someone being arrested for their faith and it wouldn’t be the last, so this isn’t what jumped out to me.  What struck me was their pure response to this offer.  Acts 4: 18-20 “So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.  But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, you must judge,  FOR WE CANNOT BUT SPEAK OF WHAT WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD.

Let me wrap it up.  Here is what they were saying, “do whatever it is you have to do to us, but because we have been with Jesus and have witnessed his power and love, we simply cannot keep our mouths shut about who He is and what He has done. 

Alright Shane, so why did this stick out to you so much?  I started to look at my own life and the lives of people around me and I had to admit that although I have experienced the power and great love of the same God that Peter and John worshipped, I was not burdened with the same response that they had.  The truth is I can keep my mouth shut about Jesus and I do!  And here is the crazy thing, I’m not being arrested for it, I’m not even being looked at funny for it.  The sad truth is that there are very few people around me, if any, that have the same response to Jesus that Peter and John did.

I’m encouraged today to be reminded of all that God has done.  I want to be reacquainted with his great power and love and may my response and your response more closely resemble that of Peter and John.

Love God.  Love Others.