Acts 3:1-15 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ancle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God: And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
Did you read the above passage? If not, don't read any further until you have because I am going to teach you a few quick steps to getting more out of your Bible reading time.
One of the biggest reasons Mom and I decided to write this daily blog is to push the idea of reading the Word of God. We have made a case for the reading of the Truth this past month in our posts and I hope that you have found tid-bits here and there that have encouraged you in your walk with the Lord and your time spent with Him during the day. But don't ever let the Bible become just "common place". It should be Something you go to each day with a hunger and thirst and you should walk away Spiritually satisfied. The only way that can happen is if you pay attention to what you are reading. Let me explain what I mean.
In Acts 3: 1-15, you read about the lame man at the gate of the temple, correct? But, what else did you get from it? Here are some questions to ask yourself every time you read the Bible.
1. Who wrote the passage you are reading?
2. To whom was it written?
3. When was it written?
These three simple questions will lead you to dig just a little deeper and go a little further than just crossing off your Bible reading chart and going about your day. It is great to read the Bible, but if you don't understand what you have read, it doesn't do you much good does it? It would be like going to a buffet and only getting pudding every day. You would walk away feeling full, but in a little bit you would be starving again and not really very healthy. We need to put some meat and potatoes on our plate spiritually, so to speak.
Okay, so here is what I did when I read the above passage. I made myself think on the lame man. In chapter 4 we find out he is in his forties. That's my age. So, what would it have been like to me to lay there every day at the gate of the Temple and beg? Never having taken a step or stood upright or walked around? I wouldn't have enjoyed that very much. Then I thought a little deeper. If this passage took place just weeks after Jesus was crucified, then perhaps this lame man had seen Jesus pass by and knew of the miracles He did and the lame and blind He had healed. Wonder why his parents had never taken him to see Jesus? Was he cynical about the powers Christ had? Or was he just a sullen man who had given up hope of anything good ever happening to him? Then I got to thinking, what did he do the day Jesus was crucified and the earth shook and it was dark outside when the sun should have been shining? Did all of these events cause him to begin questioning if Jesus was indeed the Son of God?
All of the thoughts I had about Acts 3, caused me to go and read the account of the crucifixion in the Gospels. It made me think on the current events of those days. It led me on a trail to read and study. Why? Because I took time to think about what I had read in my regularly scheduled reading. And that is what I want you to get from this post. Make the Bible make sense to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to read along with you and guide your thoughts. You will get so much more out of the Bible!
After I studied about the lame man, I thought on Peter and then about faith. Go back and read the passage again and do some thinking. Try and glean as much as possible from your time with the Lord as you can. The Bible is a Living Book and there is no end to It's depths.
Think about this verse:
Psalms 33:11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
When you read and study...you are getting a glimpse of the thoughts of the heart of God.
Until next time, Lord willing,
Sheri
Good helpful thoughts, Sheri!
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