Nehemiah 1-3 Acts 2:1-21

“But Peter stood up with the eleven apostles, and in a loud voice he spoke to the crowd: ‘My fellow Jews, and all of you who are in Jerusalem, listen to me. Pay attention to what I have to say. These people are not drunk, as you think; it is only nine o’clock in the morning! But Joel the prophet wrote about what is happening here today:’” (Acts 2:14-16 NCV)

The waiting was over. The time that Jesus promised would come, came. The disciples were baptized with the Holy Spirit and it seemed like tongues of flame were licking them. Then they proclaimed the gospel and all those listening, heard it in their “heart language.” Those who heard the gospel in their own language were amazed at what God had done, especially that they heard the gospel in their own heart language. Others who wanted anyone proclaiming the truths of God to do so in Hebrew only, accused them of babbling drunkenly. Peter responded quickly by noting the time of day that the Jewish leaders made their complaint. It was morning. Jews don’t go around getting drunk before 9:00 in the morning. And, to be honest, I’m guessing that the way the quality of the foreign language was higher than most Jews see even today.

A person’s heart language is the one that speaks to their heart. It’s the language that they’re most comfortable using in conversation. Most of the people who work here in Rwanda speak excellent English. Yet often in conversations with colleagues, they’ll slip into Kinyarwanda because that’s the language that they’re accustomed to. That’s their heart language. When God opened the preaching of the gospel with everyone hearing in their own language, He laid the foundation that the gospel is for all men, everywhere. It’s a shame that some would use the gospel to build up divisions among people. We look at the color of the skin, the church they attend, dressing too nicely or not fancy enough. And we point that out. There are a lot of non-essential things we could write about, but the key is to stop doing those things that take you away from God and draw close to God every day. What if we shared our joy with the same excitement a called third strike in the ninth inning gets in a close ball game? We have even more exciting news than that; What’s your favorite method of evangelism? Celebrate it? Use that method to share Christ with others every opportunity that you get. Let people tell you the best way to share this good news with them and let them know how much God loves them.

Lord, help me to speak in the heart language of people around me, sharing the good news of Jesus and helping them see how much You love them.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved