Thank you from the heart

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world. When they heard this noise, a large crowd gathered. They were all excited, because all of them heard the believers speaking in their own languages.  (verses 4-6)

Read Acts 2: 1-21

As a foreigner I was given a privileged seat, where I could easily see the faces of most of the crowd gathered in worship. It meant I could watch their reactions as they heard the word of God read aloud to them in their heart language for the first time. No more longwinded on-the-spot translations from a second or third tongue; here was God speaking directly to them. Each verse was cheered and clapped. The women and children listened most brightly, for they were the ones least likely to understand the language of the previously available Bibles. With God speaking clearly to their hearts, it was a time to celebrate.

God comes directly to you too, speaking words of love straight to your heart. There is no demand that you learn God’s language, for the Spirit speaks to you as you are. There may not be a flame over your head, as there was at that first Pentecost, but there’ll be a fire in your heart. Celebrate it!

Thank you! Danke! Grazie! Henele Buie! Ta, God, for speaking to my heart in a way I can understand. Amen.

by Hanna Schulz, in ‘God’s Peace for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2005)

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