Lesson Forty

DELIVERED FROM PRISON

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Memory Verse: Matthew 7:7
Further Study: Acts 12:1-19; Acts of the Apostles, pp. 143-154; The Bible Story, vol. 10, pp. 57-62

We live at the top of a neighborhood. The street that brings someone to our house is about a mile long and uphill—not a steep hill, but definitely an incline. One day we were returning home from work and saw a young woman on crutches attempting to walk a dog and it wasn’t going well. We pulled into our driveway, and I walked over asking if I could help. At first, she refused, but clearly the leash, crutches, dog, and a bandaged heel, weren’t a great combination. She acquiesced. I took the leash and asked her where she lived. “Oh, just down there,” came the reply as she nodded toward the mile-long street. Figuring she couldn’t have walked terribly far in her condition, we set off. To say we moved slowly was an understatement. I asked about her life and she about mine. We fell into a comfortable companionship as we seemed to inch down the road. At each house I’d think, this must be the one, but we continued. Turned out she lived at the end of that mile long road! It took us almost an hour to get there.

This week’s story could be made into some type of performance script as it has all the elements. Peter languished between two guards in a dark prison cell slated for execution. A houseful of friends was praying for his release. An angel miraculously appeared, freed Peter and for comic relief when Peter showed up at the door of the praying friends, the girl forgot to let him in. As I studied this familiar story, I noticed something I hadn’t before. A small detail, but, for me, that particularly week, it made a huge impact. In Acts 12:10, we read that the angel led Peter past the guards, opened the gate and led him through it. But then it adds, “they went out and went down one street” and then the angel left. Why take Peter down the street? Why not just through the gate?

Why take Peter down the street? Why not just through the gate?

My granddaughter will be a year old in just a few days. For her walking is new and involves holding someone’s hands as she explores a world never seen at that level. For the one bending over to hold her hands, it can mean back-breaking patience as each little leg figures out what it needs to do. My two-year-old grandson is sometimes afraid of new things. But offering him a hand to walk along with him makes him brave. My eight-year-old grandson is an explorer. A walk through the woods can take two or three times as long since he stops to look under rocks, examine nature, and find new treasures. For all three, it’s all about the walk.

We walk with our children to help them learn, give them courage, or give companionship. Walking with Jesus is no different. Of course, adult lessons are at another level. Our lessons are harder, our need for courage is sometimes because we are in a dark place, and for many, companionship is the answer to our loneliness. All this can be found by figuratively walking with Jesus each day.

The week I studied this story, someone I knew died suddenly and unexpectedly at a young age. My thoughts went immediately to the spouse and family. Others who also knew them had moments of vulnerability because what happened to this person could also happen to us. Yet, when I read verse 10, I realized that heaven is walking with me as well as with this family. Jesus and the angels want to be by our side. Just like I walked my new friend down the street, or I walk with my grandchildren by my side, we need to remember Jesus and angels want to do the same. For me this brought peace. I can face tomorrow because Jesus and heaven are walking with me.

I can face tomorrow because Jesus and heaven are walking with me.

Let our children teach us a lesson this week about walking. Walking with Jesus. Walking with angels down the streets of our lives. Let us practice walking and be renewed.

Digging Deeper 

The friends praying for Peter were described as in “constant” prayer. The word translated “constant” would literally be translated as “stretched out.” This could mean as in prayer that never ceases, ongoing, continuous. But it also could relate to the posture of prayer. In their earnest supplications they were completely stretched out before God. A similar term is used to describe Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, which helps us understand how fervent their prayers were.

Making it Real

A natural life application this week is to take a walk, several of them. 

1. If you are able. take an introspective and spiritual walk alone. Talk to and listen to God as He reveals Himself to you.
2. On a different day, if you have children, go on a family walk. It won’t have that introspective feel of the walk alone but note how companionship and walking together buoys everyone’s spirits. Take time afterwards at family worship to talk about walking with Jesus.
3. If you have more than one child, walk with each child at some point individually if you’re able. Go at their pace. Do the walk in the way they desire whether that is side by side, bouncing ahead, or using a scooter or bicycle. This is a great time for conversation one on one as you explore the world together.
4. If you are able, walk with another adult. Walking makes conversation easier as well as revealing concerns on the heart. Help each other as Jesus joins you in this walk.
5. Last, if you know an elderly person or someone who has trouble walking, visit and walk with them in a hallway at a nursing home or assisted living center. Or push a wheelchair on a smooth path. Walk with someone as Jesus would.

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Merle Poirier writes from Silver Spring, Maryland, where she works as the operation manager for Adventist Review and Adventist World magazines as well as the designer for KidsView, a magazine for 8-12-year-olds. She enjoys spending time with her family including being a grandmother to two active little boys, who greatly enjoy Starting With Jesus, and a granddaughter, who’s delighting everyone with her smiles. She is blessed to have all three living close by, continually bringing joy and delight.