Only men

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

ONLY MEN

Acts 10:23-26

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along. 24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself."

NIV

It is good for us to be reminded that we are only a man ourselves, or in the case of the female gender, only a woman. Sometimes there may be some people who aspire to be more than that lifting themselves up almost to being a deity. If anyone would have been qualified to be lifted up it would have been Peter. He was so filled with the Spirt of the Lord, he did miracle after miracle including, which we just saw, raising Dorcas from the dead. But Peter was just a man, a flawed man like the rest of us and he wanted others to know it. He did not want to be lifted up to a place of deity or dignity, he only wanted to be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. We might learn that lesson well, knowing that we are but men or women flawed at best even if we are being used by God in some special way. We might also learn to not place any other person up on any kind of pedestal, or place of honor as they too are only men like us, flawed at best. To even think we are anything but only a man, or only a woman would be sacrilegious. To think that we have no flaws, no imperfections, no sin would imply we are more than only a man or a woman, for Jesus was and is the only flesh that walked a sinless life. We can be certain Peter was well aware of his failures, even when Jesus was right there with him, but he also knew the power of God at work within him. His faith was pure and without reservation. He believed and God was able to work miracles in him and through him. Peter knew where his power came from and he was first to admit he was only a man. That is all we can ever expect of anyone in this world including ourselves, to be only a man or a woman. We cannot expect anyone to be perfect, to be more than who they are. Certainly we can respect others as fellow human beings, fellow believers, but that is all, as they can respect us for being the same as they are, fellow human beings. We are all the same, we can all thank God for all he has done for us, all that he is doing in us, and all that he has, is and will do through us, as he did with Peter. The point here is that we all are only men.