Can’t help it!

So they called them back in and told them that on no condition were they to speak or to teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, ‘You yourselves judge which is right in God’s sight – to obey you or to obey God. For we cannot stop speaking of what we ourselves have seen and heard.’  (verses 18-20)

Read Acts 4: 13-22

When you fall in love, there’s not much you can do about it. You try not to feel awkward and really work on appearing natural, but the special person who has your heart becomes your obsession. Your ears prick at the mention of anything about them. You are never quite happy unless you’re in their company, and when you’re talking to someone else, you just love to slip their name into the conversation.

When you think about it, it’s like that when it comes to telling others about God. It’s not a confidential matter you want to keep to yourself. When you come to know what he has done through Jesus to reclaim you from the clutches of your own weaknesses and the power of death, when you get a feel for his great love and commitment to you, you can’t help it – you’ve got to tell others.

Telling others about God isn’t an obligation; it becomes an irresistible impulse.

Dear God, help me to appreciate what you have done for me, so that the joy of it might overflow from me to others. Amen.

by Richard Hauser, in ‘Guidance for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2002)

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