August 26 | Acts 2:38-47
DAILY READING
Acts 2:38-47
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REFLECTION
The Holy Spirit
by David Thompson
This text is very powerful and intriguing. I have spent a lot of time studying it and wondering if I "had it." You see I grew up in the shadow of my famous uncle, Canadian Pentecostal television pastor, David Mainse. If he was preaching at a nearby church, my parents were sure to take me. By the end of each sermon, I was ready to go up front and pray for the Holy Spirit to fill me. You see I was around my cousins, and many from my uncle's ministry that had spiritual gifts that I didn't. I longed to have proof of my salvation by also being given a dramatic spiritual gift (i.e. prophesy, tongues and/or the interpretation of tongues). I preferably wanted tongues. I was saddened that I was not given a dramatic spiritual gift, but life went on. I finished high school at a private Wesleyan school and attended a college that was also Wesleyan. I began attending church at another denomination after school was over. Neither the Wesleyan faith nor the other denomination believed in dramatic gifts. At first I dubbed myself a charismatic casualty, but as the years went by I more and more saw that my denominational choices didn't support dramatic gifts. As always, God had a plan. I took some spiritual gifts surveys and was assured that I had and have the spiritual gifts of administration and teaching. These have proven enough for me and I hope those you have been given are enough for you. Many resources can be found on the Internet that are designed to show you what your spiritual gifts are (i.e. https://spiritualgiftstest.com/).
The passage, in Acts 2 generally and verses 38-47 specifically, shows us the awe inspiring power of the Holy Spirit. Peter preached and 3,000 people were converted, baptized and given the Holy Spirit. This conversion and infilling of the Holy Spirit changed their lives. From the reading we see that the converts shared everything in common. This included sharing meals and even selling owned property and giving the proceeds to the apostles to aid the less fortunate. The reading ends by stating once again that their numbers increased daily. This power and life changing gift of the Holy Spirit was necessary as persecution was widespread. We don't have such persecution here in the U.S., so the working of the spirit may be different than it might be under worse circumstances. Our goal should be to ask God for an infilling of the spirit to the degree that we need to have it to influence others and to live our lives in accordance to His will. For more information on spiritual gifts see Romans 12:6-8, 1 Cor. 12:4-11 and 1 Cor. 12:28.