September 13, 2007

“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” Acts 2:37.
After Peter finished proclaiming the message that God had given him to share that morning, the listening crowd was “cut to the heart” by what they had heard. They were convicted to the core of who they were. Yes, it was the words that Peter spoke. It was, also, the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, who had just that morning been poured out in a new and fresh way. God had given Peter the words to share and the courage to stand and speak, and the Holy Spirit worked on the hearts of his audience. And the crowd’s question was quite natural, out of this convicted heart: “Brothers, what shall we do?” They did not know what response to give. They wanted to respond, but did not know what to do next. That is what conviction by the Holy Spirit does.
When I speak on my own power, which, it seems, I do quite often, it does not cut to anyone’s heart. And I must admit that I am very disappointed. Yet, when I speak, out of obedience, the words that God has given me to share at any given moment, God, through His Holy Spirit, is working – convicting or doing whatever work He so desires. I am certain that most of us, if not all of us, have been “touched” by the power of eloquent words. And yet, it did not move us to any significant change. It may have touched our emotions or “tickled” our intellect, but it did not “cut us to the heart.” On the other hand, most of us have heard a speaker that was moved by the power of the Holy Spirit because of the fruit that God bore in our lives and the lives of others around us. We were “cut to the heart.” The message may or may not have been really eloquent, but we knew that something hit us.
When we share a message, all that we can do is say the words and live it out in our lives. God is the giver of the message in both our words and our actions, and we are called to obey in both. We cannot “cut to the heart” of anyone else, with what we say or do. Only God can do that convicting work. We are called to be obedient, which is all that Peter did: he obeyed.
Take some time today to think about the message that we proclaim through our words and our lives. Are we trying to do the work that only God can do, that is, to “cut to the heart” of those around us? That may come across as too “preachy”. And yet, there are times when we need to stand with courage, just like Peter, and speak as clearly as we can, proclaiming the goodness and mercy of God. How obedient are you in this? And yet, we need to rely on the Holy Spirit to “cut to the heart” of those around us, just like He does to our own. It is one of those tensions in life.