Sharing Our Story

May 24

(Acts 11:4-15 NIV) ““Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: {5} "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. {6} I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. {7} Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' {8} "I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' {9} "The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.' {10} This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. {11} "Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. {12} The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house. {13} He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, 'Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. {14} He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.' {15} "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.””

When Peter retold the story of his vision from heaven, the Bible says he did so “precisely”. He took pains to describe it accurately. Peter likely retold his story many times in his life. Likewise, the story of Paul is told three different times in the book of Acts. Surely he told it many times. When there is a great story, it gets retold again and again. Peter’s vision and Paul’s conversion were acts of God that shaped the direction of the infant church, and broadened the horizons of Christianity. Our stories are much the same. They may not be as dramatic, but they are no less important. Every true story of God’s grace broadens the horizons of Christianity and helps shape the ongoing narrative of the church. Do not hesitate to share your story. There is no need to exaggerate it or embellish it. It has the power to change lives just as it is. Share it often, and share it precisely. God will do the rest. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day