They had been with Jesus
The source of it all
When the religious authorities interrogated Peter and John, they were baffled. These were uneducated, ordinary men, yet they spoke with a boldness and power that could not be explained by their credentials. Luke records the authorities' startled conclusion: they recognized that they had been with Jesus. The secret of their remarkable active life was not training or talent, but time spent with Christ.
This is the deep root of the whole active life, and it brings this stage full circle. The boldness, the power, the overflow of good that marked the apostles came from one source: they had been with Jesus. The active life is not generated by our own energy or expertise; it flows from time spent in the presence of Christ. People who have genuinely been with Jesus carry something into the world that cannot be manufactured any other way.
This was Jesus' own design from the start. When he appointed the twelve, Mark says, it was for two purposes held together: that they might be with him, and that he might send them out. With him first, then sent out — and the being with him is what made the sending fruitful. This is the unbreakable link between the inner life and the active life: we cannot give to the world what we have not received in his presence. The active life that changes anything flows from a life that has been with Jesus. Does your activity flow from time spent with him, or are you running on empty?
“When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus.”
— Luke, of the apostles before the council — Acts 4:13 (WEB)
Let your active life flow from time genuinely spent with Jesus — for we cannot give the world what we have not first received in his presence.
“He appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach.”
We try to generate the active life from our own energy and expertise, and end up running on empty, giving what we have not received. The interior work is to recover the deep root the apostles reveal — that their boldness and power came from having been with Jesus — and to honor Jesus' own design of with-him-then-sent, recognizing the unbreakable link between the inner and active life: the activity that changes anything flows from his presence.
This week, root your activity in his presence: before and beneath your serving and doing, spend genuine time with Jesus, refusing to run on empty, so that what you give the world flows from what you have received in his company.
The age prizes output and rewards the busy, and it will press you to generate from your own energy until the well runs dry and the work, for all its motion, carries nothing of Christ. But the boldness that marked unlearned men could not be manufactured or explained — it came of having been with Jesus, and what overflows from his presence is the only activity that finally changes anything.
The authorities could not explain Peter and John. They were uneducated, ordinary men, yet they spoke with a boldness and power beyond their credentials, and the only explanation Luke records is that they had been with Jesus. The secret of their remarkable active life was not training or talent, but time spent with Christ — and this brings the whole stage full circle.
The active life that changes anything is not generated by our own energy or expertise; it flows from the presence of Christ. This was Jesus' design from the start: he appointed the twelve to be with him and to send them out — with him first, then sent, and the being with him is what made the sending fruitful. Here is the unbreakable link between the inner life and the active life: we cannot give the world what we have not received in his presence. So examine the source of your activity. Does it flow from time genuinely spent with Jesus, or are you running on empty, trying to give what you have not received?
- Does my activity flow from time spent with Jesus, or am I running on empty?
- Am I trying to give the world what I have not received in his presence?
- Do I honor the order of with-him-then-sent?
Lord, I try to generate the active life from my own energy and run on empty. The apostles' power came from having been with you. Root my activity in your presence; let me be with you first, then sent, and give the world only what I have received from you. Amen.