Acts 2 - asking the right questions with the right heart

"Whatever could this mean?" (Acts 2:12)
"What shall we do?" (Acts 2:37)

Asking the right questions seemed to be vital to one's salvation.

When the Jews, coming from different places, heard the believers speaking in tongues for the first time, they were amazed and probably puzzled. Afterall, it was the first occurence of such an incident. They have never heard tongues before.

However, there appeared to be two groups with different response. One asked, "Whatever could this mean?" while the other simply mocked them being full of new wine (Acts 2:13).

I am not sure if those belonging to the latter group ultimately were among those being "cut to the heart" and asking, "What shall we do?".... however, the difference in their response led me to consider about the readiness of the heart's field to receive the Word of God. A recent sermon spoke about ploughing our heart's field, for how can a hardened field grow anything?

In whatever we do, we really do need humility. A humble heart brings us further, because we are ready to receive more. When a portion of the Jews saw the pouring down of the Holy Spirit and heard the believers speaking in tongues, they did not understand it, but by asking "Whatever could this mean?", they are acknowledging the fact that they did not know. This is humility. They also did not immediately discount (which the other group did, by mocking) it.

In many areas, especially in matters of faith, there might be things that we cannot fully understand yet... do we have the tendency to brush it away or discount it or reject it? Especially for truth-seeking friends, we really need to have the humility to ask, "Whatever could this mean?" We can do this by asking those around us, or we can keep it in our hearts, between us and God, and I am very sure God will reveal when the time is right.

When Jesus was growing up, there were many things which His mother, Mary, did not fully understand. She knows Jesus was going to be the Messiah, but there were still things which she cannot fully grasp, and the Bible tells us that she "kept all these things in her heart" (Luke 2:51).

Another vital question to ask is "What shall we do?" (Acts 2:37)

Again, this is a question that requires much humility. Most of us do not like to be told what to do. We are sure we know what we are doing, and being told what to do seemed to be only for children. Yet Jesus told us to receive the kingdom of God as a little child (Mark 10:15).

Asking "What shall we do?" also means that we act upon it. Only when coupled with actions, asking this question will then be meaningful. Let us not be like the one who looks at himself in a mirror, saw the dirt on his face, but goes away without wiping his face clean (cf James 1:23-25).

May God guide us to ask the right questions, with the right heart of humility, while we continue to seek His heart.