Such as I Have

 “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have I give thee” (Acts 3:6 ). Peter spoke these words to the lame man at the Temple.

 The man was lying at the entrance to the Temple, by the gate called “Beautiful.” Was it not natural to seek help from the people who went into the Temple to pray and worship?

 The entrance to every church ought to be a Gate Beautiful. The doors of every church should swing inward to the experience of worship and outward to the experience of service.

 Peter and John did not pass by this needy man, as had the other worshippers. The lame man expected money; he received something infinitely greater — two strong legs on which to stand so that he could help himself.

 Perhaps some of the worshippers going into the temple that day threw a few pennies into the poor man’s lap. That is often the easiest thing to do. It salves the conscience and we can get on with our own personal business more quickly. It is much more difficult to share ourselves with our fellow man: share our love, our sympathy, our understanding, our religious experiences, our Christ.

 All about us are  people who are lonely, frustrated, disillusioned, defeated, those who have, lost hope, courage and faith, those who feel they are forgotten by God and man. Such people have a right, do they not, to look to Christians for help? They naturally come to the Gate Beautiful for that which will give them a new lease on life.

 Peter and John had something great to share with this needy man. What they had was real; they gave of themselves.

 Unfortunately this is not always the case. In the drama of Job we read -these pathetic words; “My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away... The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing and perish” (Job 6:15,18). This is the role played by too many of us. Often others come to us hoping for more than they actually request. But because we have no courage, no vision, no strong faith. nothing uplifting to share with them, many a lonely soul wanders on in empty wastes.

 If others find in us “empty streams’ it may be because, we have no deep streams within ourselves.

 Jesus said to the woman at the well, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:14) If that stream has never been opened up in our souls, or if it has been sealed, then we certainly shall be only "empty streams" to those who turn to us for life giving water.

 “Such as I have  I give thee." Other than a few pennies or a few dollars, what do I really have that I can share with some needy brother as he looks  hopefully and wistfully into my soul?

Thomas LA Mance