“Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.”
Acts 5:42
Outside of church, when is the last time you’ve taught or proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah to anyone? For most of us, the answer is very rarely, if ever. But as we see in our verse from Acts 5, the apostles never stopped. Their teaching and spreading of the good news was constant. Literally every single day they went out to the temple or even went door to door to tell people about the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. Can you even imagine that?
Honestly, it is hard to imagine in today’s world. Sometimes it’s even uncomfortable just thinking about sharing the gospel one time, let alone dozens of times every day. What changed? What is the difference between the majority of the disciples of Jesus Christ now and 2000 years ago? The answer is very simple, but it may be hard to hear.
They actually believed it.
Please don’t take that to be a judgement on your faith, but please allow it to challenge you and make you think twice about what you believe. The apostles saw Jesus die on a cross with their own eyes. Three days later they saw his empty tomb and the risen Jesus walking among them. They saw the nail marks in his hands and feet. They felt the spear wound in his side. They saw him. They touched him. They embraced him. Then they saw him return to heaven to sit at the right hand of God.
Nothing could stop them from sharing what they saw. There were no questions in their heart about who he is or what he did, because they saw it. And there was no concern for how people would take it or whether they would cause trouble or even whether they would die because of it. They didn’t care. They saw Jesus die and rise from the dead. They heard him forgive sins. They watched him heal paralytics and blind men. They knew the promise of eternal life that he gave. Nothing could take that away. So they shared it with everyone they possibly could.
Ask yourself, if you really believed it the way they did, what’s stopping you?
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Help me in my unbelief. Help me to leave my doubts behind, to embrace the risen Christ, and to share the good news with anyone and everyone. Give me your Spirit of boldness to proclaim to all the world who Jesus is. Give me the words when I don’t know what to say. Give me the courage when I am afraid. Let me not be ashamed of the gospel now or ever.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
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