Good morning, brothers and sisters.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 4:2, “They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.”
Each of us could complete the phrase “My parents taught me to…” with an array of behaviors or traits or rules that were deemed important in our rearing. Oddly, whether we still adhere to them or not, we seem to recall these lessons triumphantly when we see what we consider as aberrant behavior in another. Clearly, the essence of the instructions remains, if not the total compliance and acceptance. And that dichotomy brings to light a difference between being taught and learning. Most of us were required to endure twelve school years of education and were taught essentially the same things as everyone else. But not everyone learned the same thing. And it was and is quite obvious who learned what and how much (and much was taught outside the classroom). The beautiful thing about the apostles’ teaching was that they were teaching what needed to be learned. The lessons coming from the Pharisees spoke of order and obedience, but what was being indoctrinated was legalism and judgmentalism. Their words and lives made up a house of cards that the message of Jesus blew over. So as the apostles taught the people that Jesus died and rose again to free them from their iniquity, the religious leaders came unglued as the curtain of their message was pulled back to expose a great, big empty.
What seems to be a challenge for so many of us is to allow the teachings we have been soaking up for so long to have their way over our hearts and minds, down in the trenches where we face the worst versions of ourselves on a regular basis. Jesus taught that the key to victory in these areas was abiding in Him, which begins as you awake each morning and continues through each task and to-do. Few of us are lacking the information or exposure to the truths of God. We have heard and know. But what have we learned? What is being taught is life-changing and seismic, and our only hope is in living it out. Don’t wait for a terminal doctor’s report to decide to get things right. God loves you, Jesus died for you, and He deserves your worship right now. Learn it, and live it. And then teach it.
As we seek Him today, live out what you have learned. Be true to the One who has revealed the truth to you.
Have a great rest of the week, and I will be with you again on Monday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
