When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

There are so many things in life that seem to cut into our hearts these days. My mind goes to some friends whose daughter is a living survivor of childhood brain cancer. This challenge has cut to the heart for them for many years. I don’t know how that would feel, but I know it has been, and at times still is, very painful and challenging. And for this young woman now, having grown up with chronic head pain, not living what most of us would consider a normal life, oh, how it must cut to the heart some days.

Reality is not always as severe as the above example, but life presents us with heartache, challenges, death, and pain that cuts to the heart. And to cope with this, sinners across the world have throughout history built up walls and hedges of protection around their hearts. All this is done prior to accepting the grace of Jesus that saves, and sometimes still after accepting his grace.

But the good news is that amidst all the pain, sorrow and heartache this world can pour out, there is something greater in pursuit of our hearts. Someone, actually … and that someone is Jesus.

When it says here that these Jews were cut to the heart, this was A NEW KIND OF CUTTING. Not one that needed to be protected against, but one that offered healing power to save. And in order to penetrate through the walls and hedges that were built around the hearts of these Jews, due to the pain of sin in this world, this new force of salvation has to cut through them.

This cutting is also at times painful, but it is not a bad pain, it is a pain full of hope. Like a master surgeon cutting through tissue to root out the cause of the sickness, so the Spirit of God cuts through the walls of hardness sin has built in our lives and delivers grace and redemption.

‭‭II Corinthians ‭5‬:‭17‬-‭19‬ says this: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

We celebrate this saving grace, this reconciliation to God, this new birth into the new life and light found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ! This is the new hope that grows in the lives of my friends hurt and challenged by the sickness of brain cancer. This is a new hope of something greater than cuts to our hearts to redeem us!

The message is the same today when people ask, “What shall we do?” “Repent and be baptized”, we say. Why? Because that is what Jesus requires of us to be redeemed. With our hearts we believe and with our mouths we confess and are saved. Once we receive the Holy Spirit, he can begin working on us to cut us to the heart for redemption!

Thank you, Lord, for this first example of the Spirit of God coming into the hearts of believers, and the message of Jesus Christ being risen, preached to the Jews. What a great and amazing gospel message and harvest. Teach me to never discount the need for my heart to be cut by your Word and your ways.