Acts 3:1-10 - Truly Live!

At this point in time, Peter and John had not broken with their Jewish traditions. Hence, it would be usual for them to go to the temple. So on that day, routinely, they were going to the temple for prayer. Notice that it was the ninth hour i.e. 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the same hour that Jesus said, "It is finished!"

At Gate Beautiful, the entrance into the temple, they encountered a lame man. He had been lame since birth, a congenitally crippled man. Unable to walk, he was carried to that gate daily and left there, so that he could beg alms from those going into the temple.

In Peter and John, he saw good prospects to receive some money. So he looked on them expectantly and begging to receive something from their purse. But instead, Peter along with John, fixed their gaze intensely on him and commanded him, saying, "Look at us!"

Now, momentarily the crippled felt hopeful.  But what he heard probably broke his expectation.  His world came crashing when he heard Peter said "Silver and gold I have none."

Then Peter followed by telling him what he really needed. He needed to start walking (and start living). The Apostles didn't give him what He wanted but they gave him what he needed. 

Then seizing the crippled by the hand, Peter raised him up and immediately, we are told, the bones just clicked into place. He found the strength. And with a leap he stood upright and began walking and following Peter and John into the temple.

Verse 9 tells us that he was not only walking with the Apostles into the temple, but also went in leaping and praising God.  When the people saw him walking and praising God, they were filled with awe and wonderment for they knew him as a crippled at the gate daily.

Many lessons could be gleaned from these 10 verses but here are four:

(1) Let us not depend on the little handouts in life to live by. But let us lay hold of God's greater desire for us. He wants to give us a life so that we can truly live. 

(2) True living begins in the temple not outside. For the longest time, that cripple could only stay outside the gate and never go in to taste the joy of worship. That eventful day, he began to have a taste of what it meant to be within the temple and in His presence.                

(3) What Peter and John did, stands as a testimony that we can never give what we do not have. And conversely, it's also true that we can only give what we have. So bear in mind when we come to serve God, we can only give out of our overflow. 

(4) God's priority is to give what we need, not what we want. Let's not look for the little jingles of life. Let's focus on the core of  living by staying connected to Christ. We will definitely experience the impact of a vibrant relationship with Christ in our daily living.