check your building
It
quickly becomes apparent that the apostles were acting in much the same way
Jesus had. And like Jesus, the early
Christians could not give up witnessing to the truth. In both cases, the individuals involved
were willing to pay the price of obeying God rather than man. They were part of something much, much
greater than a temple building and tradition.
At
the time of the events in this book, most of the temple affairs and business
was in the hands of a few powerful families.
·
Elders: lay
leaders, heads of aristocratic families , mostly Saduccean outlook
·
Scribes:
drawn from a class of lawyers, mostly Pharisaic party
·
Rulers: the
Priestly element in the Sanhedrin
These leaders were bluntly confronted with
evidence which was very much against the “goodness” of their actions. Peter offers them a way out of their guilty
position—repent—but they choose rather, to defend their position, and hope that
the convicting sermons, the signs and wonders, and the testimonies, will all
come to a stop, or at least fizzle out over time. This new community of believers was, by its
simple existence and vitality, threatening the very fabric of temple life, not
to mention it challenged the status quo.
I
wonder if we sometimes react like these leaders did. Maybe I am convicted about something in my
life, but I know that if I acknowledge the truth of the matter, my lifestyle
and my preferred way of looking at things
and thinking about things will be threatened.
How do you react when evidence is against
you, showing you are guilty?
____________________________________________________________________
How do you react when a different
perspective threatens your lifestyle?
____________________________________________________________________
How do you react when someone challenges your
comfortable beliefs?
____________________________________________________________________
It seems that the ancient
leaders had the concept of Messiah as one of the stones in the building of
their lives, but when faced with Jesus, they were unwilling to have him as the
Chief Cornerstone—the cost was too great.
They stumbled.
We build our lives on thoughts
and actions. If we have Jesus as the
cornerstone of our life, our thoughts and actions are brought in line with
Him. Meaning when we experience life, we
interpret events, assimilate information and ideas, according to their
relationship to Jesus. When He is the
cornerstone, Truth dictates where and how all the rest fits together. In that light, how is your building?
Read
and Pray: Matthew 5:24-27, 1 Corinthians 3:5-13, Jude
17-23
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