October 24, 2023

Scripture: Acts 3:19 – “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

What it means

This passage of scripture comes from the apostle Peter, right on the heels of his healing of a lame man who was simply begging for financial help, but got something much better – the healing of his body.  You remember the famous line “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”  And…he did, to the amazement of the crowd gathered around who witnessed this miraculous healing. Then, Peter acts indignant towards the crowd, asking why they were so surprised.  He rebukes them for being part of the crowd who had Jesus executed, and gives them the silver bullet that they all wanted, as we just read in verse 19: “Repent!”

What it means to me

Repenting is no fun, I get it…we all have things that we should repent of, but it’s not much fun having to be reminded of it.  But…it’s what we’re commanded to do.  It’s what The Lord Jesus came to earth for – to advise us of our sinful nature, but to also offer us a way out of the punishment that we all deserve.  Repent…and sin no more.  And why is that? The latter part of verse 19: “so that your sins may be wiped out (#1), and that times of refreshing may come from The Lord (#2).  Pretty good return on our investment, I’d say…and again, the reminder that we really don’t deserve it.  It’s a free gift from God – but again, our response is to repent, or literally turn the other direction from our sin and “run like the wind Bullseye!”

Let’s allow The Lord Jesus the opportunity to wipe our sins out – wipe the slate clean – and enter into a time of refreshing that can only come from The Lord!

Love you guys, talk to you on Thursday!

In Christ,

Brian