Acts 5:33-42 Gamaliel

I COULDN'T GO ON WITHOUT COMMENTING ON GAMALIEL. ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, HE WAS A PHARISEE, TEACHER OF THE LAW, RESPECTED BY THE PEOPLE AND FULL OF WISDOM IN HIS HANDLING OF THE CASE OF THE PREACHING OF THE APOSTLES. IN HIS EXPERIENCE HE HAD SEEN MANY PEOPLE CLAIM TO SPEAK IN GOD'S NAME, BUT HE FOUND THIS PRINCIPLE- THAT A MOVEMENT OF MEN FIZZLES AWAY, BUT A MOVEMENT OF GOD PREVAILS. HE COUNSELED HIS FELLOW COUNCILMEN NOT TO BE TOO HASTY IN DISMISSING THE APOSTLES BECAUSE THEY COULD FIND THEMSELVES FIGHTING AGAINST GOD.

I WAS A TEENAGER WHEN I FIRST READ THIS PASSAGE AND WAS STRUCK BY GAMALIEL'S COURAGE, CHARACTER, AND WISDOM. SINCE THEN, I'VE ALWAYS DESIRED TO BE A MAN LIKE HIM. I ALSO THOUGHT AT THAT TIME THAT IF I EVER HAD A SON, I WOULD NAME HIM GAMALIEL BECAUSE I WOULD WANT MY SON TO BE A MAN LIKE HIM AS WELL. MANY YEARS LATER, IN 1981, ANA AND I HAD OUR ONE AND ONLY SON. WE AGREED TO NAME HIM GAMALIEL, NOT JUST FOR WHO HE WAS, BUT IN OUR RESEARCH OF HIS HEBREW NAME, WE FOUND THAT IT MEANS "GIFT OF GOD." WE MOST CERTAINLY FELT THAT GAMI, AS WE AFFECTIONATELY CALL HIM TODAY, IS A GIFT FROM GOD TO US.

TODAY, GAMI IS 28 YEARS OLD. WE LIVED THROUGH MANY DIFFICULT TIMES AS HE WAS GROWING UP. THROUGHOUT ALL THOSE YEARS MY PRAYER FOR HIM WAS THAT HE WOULD GROW UP TO BE A GOD-FEARING MAN LIKE THE BIBLICAL CHARACTER. I HAVE TO SAY THAT MY SON IS WELL ON HIS WAY TO LIVE UP TO HIS NAME. I AM VERY PROUD OF HIM, NOT SO MUCH FOR HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS, THOUGH HE HAS MANY TO MAKE ANY FATHER PROUD. BUT I AM MOSTLY PROUD OF WHOM GOD IS SHAPING HIM TO BE. A GOOD SON, A GODLY HUSBAND, A LOVING FATHER, AND A FAITHFUL COWORKER IN THE KINGDOM.

FATHER, THANK YOU FOR MY SON, AN AWESOME UNDESERVED GIFT. THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING MY PRAYERS FOR HIM. PLEASE, CONTINUE TO WORK IN HIS LIFE AS YOU HAVE TO THIS DAY.