Acts 2:6-8 -- On Speaking in Tongues and Individualized Instruction

"Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilæans?
And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?"
Acts 2:6-8


This is a pretty cool miracle. Although sometimes "speaking in tongues" is often misrepresented as spouting gibberish that no one understands, I feel like the miracle always has a purpose. In this case, there were people from all over, and God allowed them all to hear and understand the gospel in their mother tongue, and although I think part of the idea was impress everyone with God's power and help them recognize his reality, I think that maybe even a bigger reason was to personalize the gospel for these people and help them understand it in a way that would make an impact on them individually. God is the only one that can speak not only our language, but speak to the experience that each of us have in life, and grant us the blessings that we most value. He created everything, and yet his message is also personalized to each of us, helping us to understand from our unique perspective.

That doesn't mean that we shouldn't obey God's commandments when we don't think they match up with our lives of course. Personalized instruction doesn't mean we don't have to take the test or that we can just skip school... but it does mean that if we seek it, God will help us understand things in a way that will make sense to us. Today, let's be open to hearing the gospel in our context and resolve to follow God not just because we are impressed with his cool miracles and whatnot, but because we know and love him on a personal level as well. And if we're not there yet, then let's dive in and learn more rather than wandering off and thinking that it somehow doesn't affect us. It does matter in a really life and death way, and that is why God speaks to us individually, as well as through his prophets.