The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men who had had no special training. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. - Acts 4:13
How could these men, who’ve had no special training, know so much? the members of the council wondered. Here was this rough fisherman, Simon Peter, giving an excellent little sermon to the elders of Israel. He was difficult to discredit be-cause the cripple whom Peter and John had healed was standing right there with them—rather telling evidence to the power of the risen Christ (Acts 4:14)!
At this point, the Bible tells us, the members of the council “recognized them as men who had been with Jesus”!
Christ is wisdom, and knowing him makes us wise. Those in this world who think themselves wise are fools in God’s sight because they count the knowledge of him irrelevant. It’s better to be childlike in your understanding of Christ, than an old person in your mere human knowledge.
When you’ve been with Jesus for a little while, you begin to discern what is really important. And it’s what we learn of him that will make the world marvel. Do you have lots of degrees or a bright mind that you have tuned to the world’s pitch? What gifts are these? You may be “forever following new teachings, but . . . never understand the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7), and what a waste of God-given intelligence! Wise people seek Jesus first, then use their gifts to glorify him.
For Further Study: Acts 4:1-22
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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