The gift of change
This week's verses are Acts 3:24-26:
These verses are part of Peter's street preaching after a crippled man was healed. He's talking to the Jews gathered at the Temple, telling them how Jesus is the answer they've been waiting for throughout their cultural history. He tells them that God reached out to them first, to bless them by turning them from their iniquities.
There are a lot of benefits listed about Jesus in the Bible: forgiveness of sins, access to miracles, a relationship with the creator of the universe, etc. But here the first thing Peter mentions is being turned from our evil ways. Who thinks of that as a blessing?
I've done some work as a kind of auditor before, and there always seem to be two classes of people when you share audit findings. Some people fly into a rage and argue with you, accuse you of sabotaging their project, or expect you to pay to fix their substandard work. Most people are like that actually. The other kind of person is genuinely thankful to hear about what they could be doing better. "Wow I could have got a twenty million dollar fine! You saved me!" That's how we're expected to be.
One of the reasons God established contact with us was to bless us by turning us each from our iniquities. How cool is that? Do you know how many self-help books get sold every year, and all for nothing, because God offers us the power to change as part of the deal of being a Christian? Instead of having to read yet another "five ways to trick out your brain so you don't turn your car into a weapon because of other people's bad driving" thing, we can draw on the Holy Spirit's power to become better people.
There's two sides to that coin though. Do you really want to know all of the things you're doing wrong? Some of us like to believe the lie that we've got it all figured out. So then if God comes to us and says we have to do something differently in order to be at our best, we get all bent out of shape, and try to fight him. I can picture Peter talking to the people, and they're following right along with him until he says the bit about being turned from their iniquities. "Wait a minute. The things *I'm* doing wrong?"
But it really is a blessing. If you read elsewhere, when it's Paul talking, and he's listing the fruit of the Holy Spirit, it all sounds like the traits of really great people. With God's help we can become those people. That's pretty awesome, but we have to be open to it.
God has always loved us enough to want to help us do better. He was even blessing us in the garden of Eden, telling us which fruit was good for us and which was really bad. He gave us the ten commandments and a bunch of other things, via Moses, so that we could learn to live in a healthy community. He sent prophets along to put people back on track when they were doing evil things. And now he's sent his only son to wipe the slate clean and give us access to the Holy Spirit who provides that guidance directly to us.
We always look to the Bible for the flashy miracles, like seas parting, crippled people walking, and so on, but what about the miracle of a transformed life? That's every bit as miraculous as the other things, and has benefits that last for eternity. Something to consider when putting together your prayer list.
Be open to turning from your iniquities. Our sins are already forgiven, but why keep living a broken life? Ask God to show you what you could personally be doing better and to give you the miracle of change.
And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.’ God raised up his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each one of you from your iniquities.”
These verses are part of Peter's street preaching after a crippled man was healed. He's talking to the Jews gathered at the Temple, telling them how Jesus is the answer they've been waiting for throughout their cultural history. He tells them that God reached out to them first, to bless them by turning them from their iniquities.
There are a lot of benefits listed about Jesus in the Bible: forgiveness of sins, access to miracles, a relationship with the creator of the universe, etc. But here the first thing Peter mentions is being turned from our evil ways. Who thinks of that as a blessing?
I've done some work as a kind of auditor before, and there always seem to be two classes of people when you share audit findings. Some people fly into a rage and argue with you, accuse you of sabotaging their project, or expect you to pay to fix their substandard work. Most people are like that actually. The other kind of person is genuinely thankful to hear about what they could be doing better. "Wow I could have got a twenty million dollar fine! You saved me!" That's how we're expected to be.
One of the reasons God established contact with us was to bless us by turning us each from our iniquities. How cool is that? Do you know how many self-help books get sold every year, and all for nothing, because God offers us the power to change as part of the deal of being a Christian? Instead of having to read yet another "five ways to trick out your brain so you don't turn your car into a weapon because of other people's bad driving" thing, we can draw on the Holy Spirit's power to become better people.
There's two sides to that coin though. Do you really want to know all of the things you're doing wrong? Some of us like to believe the lie that we've got it all figured out. So then if God comes to us and says we have to do something differently in order to be at our best, we get all bent out of shape, and try to fight him. I can picture Peter talking to the people, and they're following right along with him until he says the bit about being turned from their iniquities. "Wait a minute. The things *I'm* doing wrong?"
But it really is a blessing. If you read elsewhere, when it's Paul talking, and he's listing the fruit of the Holy Spirit, it all sounds like the traits of really great people. With God's help we can become those people. That's pretty awesome, but we have to be open to it.
God has always loved us enough to want to help us do better. He was even blessing us in the garden of Eden, telling us which fruit was good for us and which was really bad. He gave us the ten commandments and a bunch of other things, via Moses, so that we could learn to live in a healthy community. He sent prophets along to put people back on track when they were doing evil things. And now he's sent his only son to wipe the slate clean and give us access to the Holy Spirit who provides that guidance directly to us.
We always look to the Bible for the flashy miracles, like seas parting, crippled people walking, and so on, but what about the miracle of a transformed life? That's every bit as miraculous as the other things, and has benefits that last for eternity. Something to consider when putting together your prayer list.
Be open to turning from your iniquities. Our sins are already forgiven, but why keep living a broken life? Ask God to show you what you could personally be doing better and to give you the miracle of change.
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