In Acts 3, we read the following account, “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, ‘Look at us.’ And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, ‘I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!’ And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.” (Acts 3:1-10)
Here was a man who had been lame since birth. He lay daily at the temple gate begging for money, but what he really needed was Jesus Christ! When Peter and John came along, they had no money to give, but they did have Jesus and His amazing healing power! We too meet people all day long who are begging for satisfaction, fulfillment, and all sort of things that will never really satisfy them at all! While we don’t have the power to heal them, we do have what should be the most prized possession in the entire world – a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Peter and John could have just ignored him and walked past. And that is what we do most of the time. We just ignore the needs of those around us. We’re often too consumed with our own needs and desires to even bother with anyone else’s needs, except maybe those who are close to us, and even then – it often depends on what kind of a mood we are in that day. If we have a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ – we have the most valuable possession in the ENTIRE world. And the thing about this possession is – there is more than enough to go around! How selfish we are to keep it to ourselves, when there is a world of beggars out there, blind, lame, and hopeless.
After Hurricane Harvey has finally left the Houston area, there are thousands of people traveling there to lend a hand – to give what they can to help, and that is good, that’s the way it should be. But, what are we doing to help those who need to know Jesus Christ? We often act like we don’t even know Him ourselves! If He is so amazing and awesome, aren’t we being a bit selfish by not sharing Him with all we can?