Acts 5:19-21a

Summary retelling of Acts 5:19-21a:

While in prison, an angel of the Lord comes in and lets the disciples out of prison.  But the angel doesn’t tell them to “run away” – like you might see in a Monty Python skit.  Rather, the angel tells the disciples to go and stand in the Temple and talk about what happened to them.  So they did.

Thoughts for Today:

First Thought:

Imagine God entering into your life and grabbing hold of the reigns and doing something miraculous.  It must have been amazing to see an angel come into their prison and free those disciples.  But then again, God’s done some pretty amazing stuff in my life.  God’s hand brought my wife and me together.  God’s hand has brought me to a place to preach His Word.  I may not have seen an angel, but God’s hand has been pretty active in my life.

Where has God been active in your life?  Do you have some things in your life that you often take for granted but actually are God’s hand literally at work in your life?

Second Thought:

The angels tell the disciples to go stand in the temple and declare what happened to them.  That’s a bit like being arrested for a crime, breaking out of jail, and going and standing in front of the courthouse to talk about how you did it.  It doesn’t make sense from a worldly perspective at all.  If you break out of jail (which I don’t recommend unless an angel comes and tells you that God said it is okay) you are probably going to run if you are listening to the will of the world.  But God has a plan here, and what makes sense to God from His perspective doesn’t usually make sense to us from our limited perspective.

What does it mean for us to acknowledge that God’s plan may not make sense to us?  What might it cost us?

Third Thought:

The disciples obey.  Enough said.

Would you be able to go back into the Temple knowing that the people who just had you arrested are in charge of what happens in the Temple?  What does this say about the disciples and their ability to put the ways of God ahead of their own life?

Passage for Tomorrow: Acts 5:21b-24