Be visible

Acts 3:3
When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.

I’m sure you’ve seen them. They’re at almost every street corner or traffic light in most large cities and have even made their way into smaller towns across the country. Back in the day, they’d stand there with a sign that said they’d work for food. Shoot, some of them even started getting honest about what they’d do with the money. The guy in our picture had some fun with the method of asking for help. But the bottom line is, they’re all asking for money. But that’s not my point, nor the point of the verse this week. The point is that a beggar saw somebody to ask for help. Let me explain…

My guess is that since the really devoted believers were the ones that went to the temple, Peter and John – being devoted – had been there plenty of times before. The crippled man, having a habit of being put there every day to beg, had also been there on the previous trips to the temple by Peter and John. Those 2 sentences had a lot of words in them, and they’re important to the main idea, so I’ll wait if you need to read them again.

The questions that comes to my mind, then is this: why did the beggar notice Peter and John now? What was different about this trip to the temple? Suddenly, Peter and John were visible. Think about that for just a second and then we’ll continue.

<<Waiting…>>

Okay, here’s what I mean. I think that most Christians live invisible to the world around us. We lay low, stay out of sight, and try not to get into meaningful conversations with others around us about Jesus. We feel like we have nothing to give, so we make sure they don’t see us so that we can make sure they don’t ask us for anything. But something happened to Peter and John (see Acts chapter 1) that turned a light on in them that suddenly made them noticeable. This beggar suddenly saw them, and the challenge to us is whether or not the lost around us can see us, too. Are we visible?

It’s easy to lay low, hide in the shadows. But there will be a day when the light of the world will shine bright enough to expose us, and I want that light to shine from me to a hurting world, not on me from a Savior exposing my fear and apathy.

Get with God. Let Him fill you with His power and boldness. Be courageous. And most of all…

…be visible.

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