February 7, 2008 - Acts 4:19-20

“But Peter and John replied, ’Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.’” Acts 4:19-20.
Have you ever felt so strongly about something that you could not help but talk about it? When my children and, more recently, my grandchildren were born, I was so excited that I could not help myself. I spoke to people about their birth. I spoke to total strangers about it. I just could not help myself! I felt so strongly about being a father (and a grandfather) that I could not help speaking about what I had seen and heard!
On quite another level, I picture Peter and John having very similar feelings. The experiences that they had witnessed in and through their very lives were so life-changing and powerful that they could not help speaking about it. Even before a group of the highest religious authorities of their day, they could not help themselves! They knew what they had “seen and heard,” and they were not going to stop speaking about this Jesus, who had totally transformed their lives and the lives of those around them. These religious authorities, for whatever reason, did not want them to speak in the name of Jesus; in fact they ordered Peter and John not to speak in this name. And that is what provoked the response from Peter.
It is my hope that, under similar circumstances, I would have a similar conviction. Yet, even in my everyday, normal world, what kind of stand do I take? Has my life been so deeply and profoundly affected so as to cause such a similar, focused response and conviction?
Questions to consider: How deep is your conviction about what God in Christ has done in and through you? Like Peter and John, is there enough evidence on Christ’s involvement in and through you to “convict” you, as these religious authorities had done to Peter and John? What step(s) do you need to take, if any, to deepen your conviction to follow Jesus?
Prayer: Father, I believe; help my unbelief. Please help me to know Your presence in those times when I when confronted by unbelief or disbelief, and help me to be aware of how I need to deepen my conviction and faith in You. Amen.