So true!

“Then [the rulers, elders, teachers and high priest] called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.’” Acts 4:18-20

(To read the entire story of the healing of the crippled man, click here.)

When my wife was fifteen, she pondered Christianity for her own life. One day, her thoughts culminated in this question: “If God is real, what does he require of me?” Upon further reflection, she ultimately concluded: “What God requires of me is ... me!”

Truth is a powerful thing: it demands we deal with it and it exacts a response from all who encounter it. Following the healing of the crippled man and Peter’s ensuing sermonette, “many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.” But though the religious leaders of the day saw the same miracle and heard the same message, they remained faithless. All stood face-to-face with truth, and each had no choice but to choose between belief and unbelief.

Truth is immovable: we can align ourselves and flourish under its power and authority, or we can resist it to the point of exhaustion, collapse and inevitable failure. When the rulers asked, “By what power or what name did you do this?,” Peter replied, “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but who God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.... Salvation is found in no one else...” Seeing the courage of Peter and John (and, by the way, the now-formerly crippled man also standing there in front of them!), “there was nothing they could say.” Despite all their learning and sophistry, these religious leaders lost all confidence in their own understandings. Had they been able to articulate any error in the disciples’ message or harmfulness in their deeds, they certainly would have silenced them through rebuttal. Instead, the only “argument” they could muster was, in essence, “Shut up! Just shut! ... up!” Peter, John and the healed man all thrived under the certainty of truth, while the leaders exhausted their credibility – and exposed their fragility – against it.

Truth is a person. His name is Jesus. He stands powerfully and immovably before us all as “the way and the truth and the life.” Each of us will respond to him, some in belief and some in unbelief. And every one of us will either submit ourselves to him, or exhaust ourselves in resistance.

Yes, he who gave himself for us now calls us to give ourselves to him. And what does he promise to all who believe and obey? “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

So true! So true. So true ...