Tabitha
Acts 9:36-43, Romans 12:9-13, Romans 6:8-11
Tabitha is just a short story in such a large and glorious narrative. Though Tabitha’s story is short and can quickly go unnoticed as we read through the book of Acts, this short story has two principles that we can take away from.
The first is what Luke says about her kindness and her charity. He called it habitual. That stuck out to me reading it; why? Because I often think that, as Christians, we forget that as disciples, we are called to be disciplined and to have habits that glorify Christ. Those that are fruits of the Spirit from habitually abiding in him daily. Isn’t her kindness evidence of a Spirit-led life? Are we so disciplined with habits that flow from the fruit of the Spirit in our lives? As much as we want to say yes! The answer is a hesitant no - today’s American church is hard to spot because of how much of the world it looks like. Tabitha's life is an example we should follow - her life was marked by the power of the spirit in her, so much it was written down as so.
Take a moment to reflect on your own life - what kind of fruit do you bear? What marks and defines your life?
The second principle I want us to draw from is how Peter came and resurrected us. Now we don’t often resurrect those who’ve died around us, but isn’t this such a beautiful reminder of what Paul writes in Romans? Take a moment to remember your baptism (if you have done that already) and remember the meaning of that. We die with Christ and are resurrected with him - just like Tabitha was in Acts 9. Though she was not to live in eternity yet, it was a sweet moment to remember the power of the Spirit to raise Christ from the dead and remind us through Tabitha’s life and resurrection.
Do we trust in his power and that his power will fulfill his promises? I can’t imagine the faith that was produced in Tabitha after she was raised from the dead. I pray that we are like her, habitual in our exaltation of Christ, habitual in our self-sacrifice, and habitual in the hope we cling to in His resurrection.
