Acts 8:18-24
And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, [19] Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. [20] But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. [21] Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. [22] Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. [23] For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. [24] Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

Today I was reading this portion of scripture and it dawned on me what was really taking place here.  Simon saw the work and power of the Holy Spirit and wanted it so bad that he tried to buy the gift from Peter.

It didn’t take long for Peter to respond to his offer.  Peter rather harshly and justifiably, I might add, rebuked the man and told him his heart was wrong.  Exhorted him to repent quickly pointing out that his life was full of bitterness and he was in bondage to iniquity (lawlessness or do your own thing).  I really like the choice of words that Peter used to zero in on the problem, he said, “because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.” Isn’t that the real issue?  Oh we don’t actually go so far as to offer money to buy God off, but we do offer a number of other things. Anytime we put more confidence in our works than in the mercy, grace and righteousness of our God, we are actually trying to buy the gift of God. Instead of money we use works.  Keep in mind the reason the gospel is “good news” is because God gives it to us for free our only obligation is to receive it.  My definition for spiritual maturity is getting better and better at doing what you did when you began. “Having begun in the spirit are you now made perfect some other way.”

The same confidence that we placed in the blood of Jesus to save us and to wash us clean of our sins, the same confidence that secured forgiveness and acceptance by our Father when we got saved, that is the same confidence I am to live by.  We must believe that the righteousness not only saves us but also changes us and is the basis of our whole walk with God.  It can never be purchased it can only be received by the humble saint who is willing to allow himself to be totally indebted to the Father for what He has done for us.  As Peter told Simon, you are bound by iniquity, if you even begin to think that you have anything to offer to God that would be good enough to exchange for Holy Ghost life and power.

We find it very difficult to receive anything that we haven’t earned or at least feel like we’ve earned or paid for.  Pride says I will earn, humility says I will bow down and receive.  It is so subtle how pride works its way into our hearts. It usually shows up in one of two ways:

1. The blatant out and out I must do it myself, justify myself, earn it, pay for it, do something that will make me feel justified.  And if there is sin in my life well, forget it till I get it cleaned up.
2. Then there is the equally destructive “ false humility” that shows up by continuous self-flagellation and the beating oneself into a sense that I have now suffered enough so I can feel accepted. In both cases the issue is pride “we must feel justified by something we do”.

After being in the ministry for over 27 years I have found that I’m very good at ministering the love of God to others but I find it very difficult to receive it for myself.  In 2 Samuel 9 there is a story about a man by the name of Mephibosheth.  He was crippled in both feet and he felt totally unworthy to be in the presence of King David.  The King knew that Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan; remember Jonathan is the man in whom King David had a deep covenant relationship with. Because of that relationship he desired to bless Mephibosheth and treat him not as a guest but as one of his very own sons.

The greatest honor that could ever be given to a man in those days was given to Mephibosheth. He was invited to eat at the King’s table regularly. Not as a guest but as a son. Yes, crippled feet and all.  How many of us have crippled feet and our walk with God is anything but sterling. We try and try only to fall flat on our face again and again.  We know what Mephibosheth must of felt when he responded to David’s invitation with these words vrs.8 “What is your servant, that you should regard a dead dog like me”.  Have you ever felt like a dead dog as you take a personal assessment of what you have to offer and see only crippled feet, an inconsistent and less than perfect Christian life.

Our Father sees and knows all about those things but as it was with David towards Mephisbosheth His mercy is not because of who we are but because of our relationship with Jesus, and because of who He is.  He gives us the same invitation to come and eat at the King’s table regularly. Come and dine and fellowship and receive His love for you, come and become strong in who He is and discover what Paul meant when he said, “In my weakness He is made strong”.  The more you come the more your crippled feet will become whole. It’s all about Him and not about us! He is faithful, He loves us and longs for us, to come and fellowship with Him crippled feet and all. Look at Vs. 13 “ So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate at the kings table regularly, and he was lame in both feet.” He learned to eat at the Kings table even with his crippled feet.  Father knows the answer we look for is found in His love “love is stronger than death” than certainly it can transform us.

Are you letting your crippled feet keep you from His table?  Mephisbosheth became crippled because when he was a baby a nurse dropped him on his head and from that moment on he was crippled.  Many of us have our own story and backgrounds perhaps littered with broken homes, rejection, abuse etc. in a sense like Mephisbosheth maybe we feel like a victim of life, circumstances beyond our control have affected, or perhaps I should say infected, our whole perception of life and every relationship we have.  We can choose to let our crippled feet be our excuse and develop a victim mentality, which by the way is the worse kind of prison a man can be in. Or we can accept our Father’s invitation.  Come, come to the Kings table He waits and longs to disclose Himself to us. It takes real humility to eat at the Kings table as a son when underneath the table we are painfully aware of our crippled feet.  Think of it, enjoying all of the Father’s benefits, getting to know Him, being close to Him with my crippled feet and all.  It’s so hard for us to allow ourselves to believe it’s possible. Our hope in ever being changed is found in His Presence. We don’t change and clean up in order to come to Him we come to Him crippled feet and all because He is our resurrection and our life, and our hope is in Him He died not only to allow me to forgiven but the cross also has the power to change me.  The condition: humility, on bended knee we come, we have nothing to offer, yet He loves us still and has come to rescue us from our sins and our sin nature.

His invitation is real “Come and eat at my table regularly, as one of my sons” if we will learn to simply respond to His love rather than trying to earn it, we will find ourselves being so caught up with Him that almost without notice were being changed from glory to glory, from one meal to another it happens.  The more we dine with Him the more He changes us, the more His presence fills us and conforms us into His Image. Learning to respond to His love rather than trying to earn it is where the real rest, peace and joy of Christian living are found. Soon the issue won’t be your crippled feet, but the awe of being in the Presence of a Holy God. It becomes all about Him, not about us!

The Lord be with you as you respond to His love
Doug