Acts 2:37 - Now when they heard this, they were PRICKED IN THEIR HEART, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, WHAT SHALL WE DO?
We have all been pricked in our hearts at one point or another by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The way in which we may have responded to the experience is where our individuality becomes evident.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, in Acts 2:37, Simon Peter had just confronted his audience with the bold truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As a result, even the most influential members of the gathered crowd felt pricked in their hearts. To put it simply they were wrestling with feelings of what is commonly termed in the theological world as conviction.
Conviction defined: The state of being found or proven guilty
They were keenly aware that their hearts had been pierced with the Sword of God's word. They felt as though they had been caught, tried, and found guilty of their sin, but yet with a reality that is foreign to a court of law (and ironically permissable in the Spirit-realm) they were left with complete freedom as to how they would handle their sin-guilt.
Struggling to determine the correct response, they turned to one another with sincere curiosity and began to ask, "What shall we do?"
If I had been there 2,000 years ago, I would have shared with the inquiring minds that conviction arrests us--and while we have the option to ignore it--failure to submit to it's powerful pricking, will leave us running as a fugitive. Not to mention, that we will wrestle with the guilt of knowing we have done wrong that has never been made right--which makes for a miserable existence!
Perhaps it would do us all some good to reflect on the fact that God convicts us in order to draw us away from the carnal and to Christ. Conviction pricks our heart and makes us aware of the sin in our life, not with the intent to drive us away, but rather to draw us to Jesus. After all, it was Jesus, himself, who said, "I have not come to condemn the world, but to save it!" The Holy Spirit has no desire to tell us simply how bad we are, his plan is to reveal to us how good through Christ we can become.
I have a firm belief: A lack of response to the CONVICTION of CHRIST in our hearts will result in wrestling with the CONDEMNATION of our CONSCIENCE in our minds.
Christ may convict us, but if we are condemned it is only because we have chosen to resist his help with overcoming the sin he has made us aware of.
We each have a great dilemma in front of us... Our hearts have been pricked, now what shall we do?
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