No Longer Dumb

I was privileged over the last week to speak to kids about Jesus Christ, some of whom admittedly had never heard anything about Him.  It was fun to focus on the life of Christ and His amazing deeds which revealed He was indeed the Son of God sent as a Saviour.  While camp is a great opportunity to be intentional about speaking of Jesus, it is good for us to approach every day with the same focus.

D.L. Moody wrote about the great zeal of the blind man healed by Jesus.  He could have remained silent because of the opposition and pressure of the Jewish religious leaders, but his boldness and courage rivalled that of Peter and John before the Sanhedrin after being filled with the Holy Spirit.  Moody points out the fault of silence among those who have had their eyes opened by Christ, a fault I have been guilty of myself:

It is a very sad thing that so many of God's children are dumb; yet it is true.  Parents would think it is a great calamity to have their children born dumb; they would mourn over it, and weep; and well they might; but did you ever think of the many dumb children God has? The churches are full of them; they never speak for Christ.  They can talk about politics, art, and science; they can speak well enough and fast enough about the fashions of the day; but they have no voice for the son of God.

Dear friend, if He is your Savior, confess Him.  Every follower of Jesus should bear testimony for Him.  How many opportunities each one has in society and in business to speak a word for Jesus Christ!  How many opportunities occur daily wherein every Christian might be "instant in season and out of season" in pleading for Jesus!  In so doing we receive blessing for ourselves, and also become a means of blessing to others. (Moody, Dwight Lyman. Men of the Bible. Bible Institute Colportage Assn., 1898. pages 101-102)

It was a notable miracle done by Peter in the name of Jesus Christ when he healed the lame man by the Beautiful Gate, but just as miraculous (though easily overlooked) is the transformation the Holy Spirit did in the life of Peter and John.  After the death of Jesus the disciples cowered behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, but after being filled with the Holy Spirit Peter and John spoke boldly before the very men responsible for killing Jesus.  The boldness to speak of Jesus was not lost on the Pharisees in Acts 4:13:  "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marvelled. And they realised that they had been with Jesus."

May believers have the testimony of the man once blind who was enabled by Jesus to see, that we were once afraid but have been made bold to testify of our Saviour Jesus Christ.  By His grace we are no longer dumb, having been given the fullness of the Holy Spirit.