Begging for Change

Acts 3:1-2 (NIV) 
One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer--at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.

Peter and John, arrived at the temple the same hour as the crippled man and his friends. Every day at three in the afternoon this man could be found, begging for money from those heading into the temple.

Maybe his presence was expected and perhaps there were those generous attendees who regularly dropped something into his hands. He went there every day so he must have profited.  This man, a regular sight, and one many people looked at but didn't see, would soon find his world changed forever. 

I know we heard read this story many times before, but did you ever wondered what happened the next day? What changed for that man the day after his miraculous healing? Did he still go to the temple gate? Did his friends still go with him?

When a major life-change occurs, how do we face the next days? When many of us came to faith it was after years of prayers or learning or struggles. It wasn't an overnight thing. We gradually made changes to how we lived each day; our faith grew and became repentant Believers. 

But for this man and some of us, significant change happens on the spot. A death unexpectedly turns our world upside down. A few us of even experience healings - perhaps of the body, but maybe of the heart. For certain, when Jesus touches us with His healing power - be it of the body, mind or spirit - nothing is ever the same again.

Acts 3:1-10