Thought for Thursday
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, thee I give, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Acts 3:6
All we were looking for was a quarter and a dime; we needed the coins to open the bus station lock box where we had tossed our suitcases the day before. Since leaving the bus station, my friend and I had been grabbed by some ruffians who had driven us miles out into the country and had taken everything we had in our pockets except the lock box key. It had taken us a day to walk back to the bus station. Cold, hungry, and tired, we still needed 35 cents to get our luggage, and hopefully enough money for the bus fare home. We approached a kindly looking gentleman who got off the bus, and told him our story, pleading for a quarter and a dime. He smiled and shook his head. He had no money in his pocket. But, maybe he could do something for us. ‘Come with me,’ he said. We went to his house, where he and his wife fed us a huge meal and showed us to a cozy bedroom and bid us get a good night’s rest. In the morning, they gave us a hearty breakfast, and a couple of warm coats, and sent us on our way. For a man with no money, he had given us much. But not as much as Peter and John gave the lame man.
The little expression ‘such as I have’ sounds small, but it was far beyond the lame man’s expectations. He was hoping for pennies but received the use of his legs! He had never known how to stand up and take baby steps, how to run and play as a child, how to walk to work, worship, or window shop, how to climb a flight of stairs, or stroll along a riverbank. Now, Peter’s ‘such as I have’ gave him a new life and wonderful prospects. God may not give to you and me the same ‘such as I have’ gift that Peter employed that day. But He has given us a ‘such as I have’ that includes the Gospel. And it is a far greater blessing than a pair of sturdy legs.
Folks around us are worse off spiritually than the lame man at the temple’s Beautiful gate was spiritually. Unless the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ has shined into their souls, they are not saved. They are helpless and hopeless, ungodly souls who are hurrying to perdition and most of them are not even aware of it. But we have something that we can share with them. We can tell them what the Gospel has done for us, tell them about God’s great plan of salvation, invite them to Gospel meetings, hand them a tract, and live before them so they will know that our ‘such as I have’ is worth having.
If we will share ‘such as we have’ with our friends, neighbours, workfellows, and others we meet, we will share far more than they could ever expect. -Jim MacIntosh