Idiōtēs

Acts 4:¹³ “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. (NIV, emphasis added)

In other words, the only significant thing about Peter and John was that they had been with Jesus. These men were unschooled and ordinary, yet they were doing amazing things, extraordinary things. I was giving someone a reference to a Bible college and we got talking. He asked me what Bible college I attended and I told him that I tried Bible college but dropped out after just two days. I could not cope. People may call me a Bible college dropout, but by the grace of God, I have been with Jesus. In fact, the words unschooled and ordinary used to describe Peter and John in today’s anchor scripture are from the Greek word idiōtēs. Which means ignoramus, ignorant, unlearned, or idiots. What the men in Acts 4 were saying is that Peter and John were idiots.

Guess what? God likes using idiots to do extraordinary things. So that when you look at the idiot and you look at what God is doing, the only conclusion would be that it cannot be the idiot it has to be God that is doing what only He can do. Obviously, we value continuous learning, we value growth, and I am not minimizing those things at all. I am just saying that the things that will get you forward are things that will make you look like an idiot to other people. I am just saying that the steps that you need to take to change from where you are to where God wants you to be, that your classmates will look at you and say you are an idiot. They are steps that your colleagues will look at you and conclude that you must be an idiot. But God will turn that idiot into a miracle.

Benjamin Franklin says, “The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason” and I agree with him one hundred percent. There is nothing wrong with reason and there is nothing wrong with science. In fact, the things we call reason, and the things we call scientific today, were actually things that when the people that believed them believed, they were called idiots. When the Wright brothers believed that man could fly, they were called idiots. But today there are laws of aerodynamics and people would describe flying as an advancement in science. But the people that broke the back of it were idiots that chose to believe what no one else could see. For everything that has become law today, the pioneers were idiots.

What is God asking you to do that you are concerned will make you look like an idiot? Do it! Just do it because you cannot waste any more time. When it comes to serving God, it is ether you are doing it by revelation (by faith) or you are doing by reason. If you, do it by reason, you will always come short.  Acts 4:¹³ “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (NIV).

Prayer: Father, use me to display your splendour and power such that when men encounter me, their only conclusion will be that I have been with Jesus, in Jesus Name. Amen!