“. . . leaping and praising God.” Acts 3:8
Have you ever attended the final minutes of a game where it was down to the wire, and your favorite team at the last second scored the point that won it? What happened? The fans probably freaked out, jumping up and down and giving high fives while screaming and yelling with joy, right?
We often express extreme happiness in physical ways that engage our bodies. The man in our text certainly had reason to jump up and down with joy. Imagine what you would do if you’d been lame your whole life, and then in an instant God healed you.
God created us with physical bodies, and he wants us to use them to praise him for what he’s done. Sometimes when we sing to God, we raise our hands to show surrender, or we bow down to show humility. Sometimes we cry to show remorse, repentance, or sadness, and sometimes we smile and laugh to express our joy. God wants us to be like this man who was healed. May we express our thanks and praise in ways that appropriately acknowledge what he has done.
Read
Psalm 9:1; 16:9; 95:1–7; 111:1
In what ways does the psalmist exhort us to show physical expression in light of what God has done? Write down all the active words, and the reasons for the worship that the psalmist lays out.
Prayer
Our Father, may we not be too proud to show how much we love you! May we show more praise for you than what we show at a game or a concert. You have done the greatest thing in the world by saving us from your wrath. May we recognize this to a greater degree and display it in our lives. Amen.
This devotion is adapted from Week 6 of the Acts Study Guide.
