Our devotional text is found in Acts 3:12-19. The text provides us with several avenues of thought that we could travel and from them I’d like to take these few devotional minutes to center our thoughts around “holistic stewardship”.
“When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.”
We need to take a minute to recap what’s taken place.
In the first chapter of Acts we read about the Ascension of Jesus as he returned to his heavenly home but not before leaving his disciples with some definite instructions. We also find the last time in Scripture where lots are cast to determine God’s will. In the second chapter of Acts we read about the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Empowered by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Peter begins preaching and people begin surrendering their lives to the Gospel of Jesus as the Church moves beyond the house where they were praying and becomes a vital spiritual entity on the streets of Jerusalem. The beginning of the third chapter records the divine physical healing of a crippled beggar, an event that created quite a stir among the people now that the followers of Christ were performing the same miraculous deeds that Jesus was known for. This is the backdrop and context of our devotional text.
The revival of interest in the doctrine and practice of divine healing since the holiness revivals of the late 1800's and early 1900's possesses a duel nature. It holds within itself great hope for many who are able to wholeheartedly surrender themselves into God’s custodial care while at the same time causing others to reap disappointment and doubt as they sow their emotions and resources in search of a divine gift or favor.
I’ve yet, after 25 years of attempting to understand God’s Word and how God works through his Word, been able to understand “why” this one with faith is divinely healed of an infirmity when that one with faith is passed over. Yes. I do definitely believe in divine physical, emotional, and spiritual healing, have experienced it in various ways, and have known others who’ve received this wonderful favor from the Lord.
In all fairness though, there have been times when despite prayer and faith that I’ve had to endure some illness. Admittedly, I’m not often sick and when I do get sick it usually doesn’t linger long before I’m up and about again. Personally, rather than sowing (is this perhaps a modern form of investing in indulgences out of fear) to receive something from the Lord, I’ve discovered much more freedom and fruit in simply surrendering myself into the custodial care of God. This isn’t just a flippant mental assent. It means becoming a good steward of my total being - spiritual, emotional, and physical. This is holistic stewardship that takes us - body, mind, and spirit - into the center of God’s will for our daily lives.
Peter was adamant in accusing them of trading Jesus, the Author of life, for a convicted murderer. Entertaining the idea of holistic stewardship makes me begin to wonder about what I’ve traded Jesus for over the years of my life. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” How much life have I sacrificed, how much health have I yielded up, in pursuit of lesser things that take away from perfect spiritual, emotional, and physical health? How many times have I wandered a downward spiral when all the while a holy heavenly light was shining to draw my focus upward toward better things? Too many!
None of us can honestly look into the truth about Jesus without being challenged to repent, to turn ourselves about, and to turn ourselves to God. Repentance involves changing our mind, changing our purpose, and changing our former life into something new. There’s not a soul beyond the reparative help of God. Even the thief, though he met physical death for his crimes, on the cross beside Jesus received spiritual healing in the last hours of his physical life.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Sound and blameless in spirit, soul, and body. Holistic stewardship addresses these three aspects of our humanity and leads us toward a balanced lifestyle of caring for the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of these temples wherein resides the Spirit of God.
May God help us to discern and orient our lives toward only those things that create and facilitate divine spiritual, emotional, and physical health. As we yield ourselves to better things, may his Word and Spirit continually renew and restore us until we more ably represent his intended image for us. Amen. |
