Acts 3:1-10

The lame beggar at the gate of the temple. Everyday he would be carried to the steps of the temple so he could beg for alms. Most likely, people carried him out of pity. Most likely, people gave him things out of pity. Maybe even so that they might be seen as being loving and generous if others say. Makes me think of all the times I feed my pride when I try to love others. It's pretty pathetic the more I think about it as I sit here. I love the times when God challenges me to do things without thinking. The situations that happen out of nowhere so I might see where my heart is it. At times, I do things with a good heart. At other times, I just ignore things and have to reflect on how indifferent my heart was. Dealing with the poor has definitely been something that has tugged on my heart these last years. Being in a college city filled with the impoverish, you have to deal with it. It has to affect you. You'd be a fool to just walk by the homeless, ignore the homeless, not even consider the homeless. I don't care if they were crazy looking, crazy talking, crazy acting. There is definitely a brokenness in the homeless and lame. There's a void. There's a gap. There's a need. And you read in Acts 3 where this man who has been lame his whole life. He only knows how to do one thing in life...beg infront of the temple. Nothing more. Nothing less. His joy is other people's pity. As sad as that is...that's something more than nothing, right? And I love what Peter and John have to offer. "I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you." The lame man is anticipating their pity of silver or gold, but they offer something even greater. Something that's life changing. What a greater joy than all the joys the man has ever gotten. His reaction is priceless too. He leaped up and joined them in the temple, leaping and praising God. That's someone who knows how to celebrate something life-changing. So how then do we respond to life-changing joy? Because..let's be real with it..we are just like the lame begger. We might not be physically lame, but there's definitely voids we have in our hearts and minds. There's definitely gaps that we try to fill with material things, temporary happiness, mindless work, etc. When will be satisfied by more than these things? But more importantly, how will we respond when we find that overwhelming joy? I'd like to think im a leaper and praiser. But maybe it's more like a little hop and skip. I want to be that crazy guy leaping all about it. But the Bible is pretty clear..if you aren't leaping and praising God from this life-changing joy, then you haven't experienced it yet.