Acts 3:12-16
Peter saw his opportunity and
addressed the crowd. “Men of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising
about this? And why look at us as though we by our own power and
godliness had made this man walk? For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob and of all our ancestors who has brought glory to his servant
Jesus by doing this. I refer to the Jesus whom you rejected before
Pilate, despite Pilate’s determination to release him. You didn’t want
him freed—this holy, righteous one. Instead you demanded the release of a
murderer. And you killed the Author of Life; but God brought him back
to life again. And John and I are witnesses of this fact, for after you
killed him we saw him alive!
“Jesus’ name has healed this man—and
you know how lame he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name—faith given us
from God—has caused this perfect healing.
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
Some of you may be watching
the resurrected version of the television series “Dallas”. Back in the
70s and 80s when this show first aired, one of the main characters,
“Bobby Ewing”, played by Patrick Duffy, was killed when the sister of
his brother’s wife ran over him with a car...or so we thought. We
learned in a subsequent season that this “death” had all been the “bad
dream” of Bobby’s ex-wife Pamela. Still with me? I know this is crazy,
and even writing it all down made me wonder, “What were we thinking?!”
I
share this to tell you that we are no strangers to modern-day
“resurrection” stories. They happen all the time in television series,
movies...and even our favorite novels. Someone appears to be dead, but
we discover that they really aren’t. Children watch cartoons in which
the characters come back to life over and again. All of this combines
to create a sort of “numbness” and indifference in each of us...and on
certain levels, it causes us to detach from reality.
It is no
surprise that we are somewhat numb to the profound significance of
Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection...that we are not as cognizant of
Jesus’ healing power as we should be. It isn’t even that big of a
stretch to see how we could give ourselves and the “healers” in our
midst more credit than we deserve for our health and well-being in every
area of life. Although it’s a “slippery slope”, one can see how easy
it might be to give too much credit to physicians, therapists, coaches,
teachers, parents, friends, and even clergy for enabling us to put one
foot in front of the other.
While these people may play a
significant role in our overall health and well-being...their true power
comes from Jesus. We may benefit from their wisdom, expertise,
kindness, compassion, mercy, and life experiences, but none of this
would be available to us without our Savior. Jesus knows what we
need...when we need it...and how to get it to us. He uses human beings
as the vehicle for our healing...but ultimately, He is the Great Healer.
Unlike
the original “Dallas” series and its 2012 revival, Jesus’ life, death,
and resurrection were no television soap opera. Jesus is as real as it
gets...and His power to heal and restore us – and meet our every need –
is unsurpassed. His use of ordinary people like you and me to carry out
His missions is equally real.
Maybe it’s time for us to open our
eyes and re-align our focus a bit. Maybe we need to be more aware of
Who is really running the show...and give Him the appropriate measure of
gratitude. Maybe we need to stop thinking so highly of ourselves and
stop to recognize Who fuels our every breath! Perhaps we need to start
looking a little more closely at Who is truly the Author of our
lives...and give credit where it is due. Isn’t this the perfect time to
begin?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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