Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Acts 3:9, “And all the people saw him walking and praising God.”

Background

It would be interesting to know just how many people we see and are seen by in a day. I wonder if there exists in the science fiction world a device that works like the pedometers that count your steps to count the number of people that someone’s eyes encounter. If so, I have a feeling that the totals for some of us would be astounding. And as those numbers grew and grew, what would be the chances that every single person that looked upon you was left with the same impression? Regardless of whether they saw you for two seconds or two hours, could everyone who saw you say the same thing about you? The odds of that would be extremely high, if not astronomical. The guy who sees you singing at the top of your lungs in the car as you fly down the highway might not be left with the same impression as the one who sees you fussing at your child in the middle of a department store. But we understand these differences. Chance encounters of us in the middle of our daily lives can catch us in all sorts of postures and expressing a variety of emotions.

Application

But could it be possible for everyone who lays eyes on us to see us walking and praising God? If your answer to that is no, then I think you should ask yourself why not. Why will someone see you today and not witness a child of God walking and praising Him? Is there going to be a reason good enough to justify your actions? If God Himself could see you as you live your life today, would you be able to successfully explain yourself to Him for your less-than-glorifying time spent living your day? What disappointment or setback is going to be drastic enough to warrant being elevated above the place of praising our Creator and Savior? I’m not sure I can come up with one. But we don’t weigh it this way, do we? When something unpleasant hits us, we don’t stop and lay it beside Christ and compare the importance. We too often just react. But today, we can do better than that. More than being healed from forty years of being lame, we have been redeemed from an eternity of damnation. Let that, at least that, be what everyone sees in you today.

Charge

As we seek Him today, praise Him for having something to praise Him for. Praise Him, and then praise Him again. Let those thoughts fill your mind, leaving no room for complaining or disappointment.

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words