"We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood." – Acts 5:28

Today's Scripture Reading (March 1, 2024): Acts 5

I don't like the Dentists. I am not convinced I like my teeth either. I used to have a friend who boasted that he didn't have to brush his teeth, but he did about once a month anyway. He never had developed a good oral hygiene routine, but the kicker was that he had also had never had a cavity. And the question that jumps into my mind is, "What am I doing wrong?" I wish I were him, but I am not. So, I brush my teeth at least every day. And I floss, although admittedly not enough. A couple of times a year, I go and see the experts about my teeth. And they get to tell me what a lousy job I am doing at caring for my teeth.

A few years ago, my dental hygienist developed a new procedure. She would shove a camera in my mouth and show me how bad a job I was doing. And, to be honest, I didn't really want to know. After all, I don't know how to fix the problem (or maybe I just don't want to know).

Peter and John healed a man who had been lame from birth. They did it in the name of Jesus, and so they were arrested, thrown into jail, and, on their release, were commanded not to ever speak in the name of Jesus again. Part of the problem on the part of the religious elite in Jerusalem was that both during the original trial and this subsequent discussion, Peter kept reminding them that the religious elite were the ones who had killed Jesus. The words are not figurative; they were the ones. The elite remembered the late-night discussions and the planning meetings centered on how this Jesus could be dealt with; they were the ones who had met with Herod and Pilate. The elite had testified at the trial and incited the crowd. But all of this was something that the Sanhedrin didn't want to hear. So, they commanded Peter and his friends to stop speaking in the name of Jesus.

I know the reaction. I live with it, and not just with my teeth. I recognize the way that sometimes I feel when God starts to speak. I don't want to give up what I think is my power. I don't want to hear the words. And so, we have a choice. We can continue to deny that God is speaking and the Holy Spirit is moving. We can keep pointing at other people and say that it is their problem; we can keep pretending that we aren't the problem, but we are just pretending. There is no solution to any of the problems that we face that doesn't start with a conversation between me and God. It is a lesson I admit took me a long time to learn, but it is the truth.

Sometimes, we say what we do and feel the way we do because we don't want to hear God speak any more than the Sanhedrin did. But we need to hear God's voice if anything is going to change for the better in our lives.    

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Acts 6