Acts 3:1-10 - Look Intently at Each Other

Scripture: Acts 3:1-10

Summary: Peter and John are headed to the temple to pray and they come upon a man who has been lame since birth. He asks them for money but Peter tells him to look at them. He does and Peter tells him that he doesn't have money but tells him to get up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ. He begins walking and leaping and praising God and everyone who sees him is filled with wonder and amazement.

Thoughts: What strikes me today about this scripture is Peter and John's immediate response to the lame man. The scripture says "Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said 'Look at us."" How many times have you walked or driven past someone who needed help, trying to avoid eye contact? I have often found myself staring at the light, wishing that it would go ahead and change so that I didn't have to look at the man outside my car asking for help. Now I have heard before that it is not a good idea to give a beggar money because they will most likely go spend it on alcohol or drugs. But Peter didn't give the man money either. Instead he gives the man what he has to give. He heals him so that he can walk. If I want to live like the apostles did, what should I give to the next person that I see in need? Perhaps I can't give them money, but I could give them a package of crackers or a bottle of water. But the most important gift I can give them is to look at them. Just as Peter and John did, I can really see them and recognize them as a child of God.

Prayer: God, help me to be more like Peter and John. Help me to really see everyone that I pass today and be kind to them. Amen.

1 Peter 3:7-9 - Who is my Beloved?

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:7-9

Summary: Husbands, show consideration for your wives, they too are heirs of life. Be united in spirit. Don't repay evil with evil.

Thoughts: I think today I will just skip over the fact that this writer calls women the weaker sex. I'm going to tell myself that this refers to our physical strength, which is usually less than the strenght of a man! Instead I want to focus on verse 8. "Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind."  If we really loved one another, even those people that we don't like, it would be alot harder to treat other people badly. For when you love someone, you want to treat them well and you want them to be healthy and happy. What if we lived as if every person with whom we came in contact was a loved one? The clerk at the grocery store, the woman with two squirmy kids in worship, the obnoxious driver on the freeway, the homeless man on the street corner. How would our attitude change toward them if we regarded them as a loved one? Perhaps I should use this season of Lent to remind myself that every human is a loved one of God and thus should be a loved one of mine.

Prayer: God, you are a father and mother to us all. But that means that all of these human beings on this earth are my siblings. Some of them are easy to love, but some are not. Help me to see the image of God in each of them, loving them with a tender heart. Amen.