Good morning, everyone.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 4:23, “And being let go, they went to their own and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.”
I hope you’ve had the opportunity to watch the movie The Princess Bride. This lovely film from 1987 tells the story of Buttercup and her poor farm boy love named Westley who goes off to seek his fortune so that he can return to marry his true love. In the movie, the story is actually being read by a grandpa to his reluctant and skeptical grandson from the book entitled The Princess Bride. The grandson, expecting the book to be boring, eventually permits his grandpa to read it, saying, “I’ll try and stay awake.” But at one point, the film jumps back from the action where Buttercup’s life is on the line to the boy’s bedroom where the grandpa is reading to him, and the grandpa notices that rather than being bored, his grandson is wrapped up in tension. So the grandpa says, “The eel doesn’t get her. I’m explaining to you because you look nervous. Because we can stop now if you want.” “Maybe I was a little concerned,” says the boy, “but that’s not the same thing. You could read a little bit more, if you want.”
If you and I weren’t where we are and when we are, and perhaps were reading the account of Peter and John for the first time, then the threats and looming punishment that they received from the chief priests and elders might serve to douse the hope we had following the miraculous healing and sharing of the gospel. We might want a grandpa who knew the outcome to allay our worries and assure us that all ends well. But of course, we know how the story ends. We know the history that is yet to be written.
However, that doesn’t guarantee that we always live in the light of that best of good news. We can still set our eyes with laser focus on what is swirling around us and forget the calm and control that resides in our heart and sits on the throne in heaven. As we will be reminded again and again in the remainder of Acts, challenges and disappointments and frustrations and setbacks will come, but God is still sovereign through it all. It’s not boring, and it can be a little scary, but let’s read, and live, a little bit more and see His majesty on display.
As we seek Him today, remember the angst of today is still under the authority and in the design of the Almighty God who loves you.
Have an incredible Tuesday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
