Daily Devotion, June 20, 2011 - Transformed!

Acts 5:14-15
Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.

When my son was a little boy, he was given a set of transformer toys just like the ones pictured above. I was amazed at how deftly his chubby fingers could manipulate these objects, changing them from letters to robots in a twinkling. Once changed, I was hard pressed to visualize the shape of the original object; most of the time, it completely eluded me.

That's precisely how I felt when I read today's verse. What has happened to Peter? Isn't this the same disciple who sank when Jesus commanded him to walk on water? Who chastised the Lord when He tried to explain what must befall the Son of Man? Who, at Jesus' darkest hour, denied Him three times before the rooster crowed? Now, I see someone I don't recognize, a man so infused with the grace of God that people believe even his passing shadow has the power to heal! Where in the world is the "old" Peter?

He has been transformed forever by God's gift in the Holy Spirit. And, unlike the toy that can be returned to its former shape, there is no turning back for him or the other apostles. They have been made new, ready to teach with boldness about the Savior, able to heal in the name of the Lord, devoted to bringing His kingdom to the world. As Paul most aptly put it in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

Alleluia and Amen!

Readings
Psalms 89:1-18 or 89:19-52
1 Samuel 5:1-12
Acts 5:12-26
Luke 21:29-36