the beggar

• Acts 3:1 (ASV)

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I cannot take credit for this insight, I believe it was Adam who mentioned this in a sermon. Nonetheless I think it is worth pointing out again:
The beggar, at the beginning of chapter 3, was not expecting anything out of the ordinary from Peter. He was expecting, as the text said, money. However, when Peter demanded the beggar's attention the beggar was given something quite out of the ordinary - he was given a healing miracle! It wasn't until the beggar gave his FULL attention to Peter that Peter then healed him.
So often, I find myself being much like the beggar - with only half of my attention on God and not necessarily expecting anything out of the ordinary to occur. I don't mean to say that I undermine God's ability to do those "out of the ordinary" or miraculous things, I just don't always expect them. I think this passage begs the question of whether or not the beggar's outcome would have been different had he not given his undivided attention to Peter. Would the beggar have missed out on that amazing blessing of being healed?!? This passage serves as a wonderful reminder of just how important it is for us to give our full attention to God. How unfortunate it would be for us to miss out on His blessings because we weren't paying attention.

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