Do you ever think about the 12 disciples that Jesus chose and how normal they were? He didn’t choose a rabbi, scribe, priest or anyone from any religious establishment. He didn’t choose anyone from nobility, famous, or powerful. Just ordinary common working men with average abilities and no exceptional talents. He chose these disciples so people could see that it is only God’s power working in them, and these men brought nothing of their own. Look how they continued Jesus’ work in Acts, preaching to the masses – to the very people that called for Jesus to die on the cross!

Even when Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin after healing the crippled man at the gate of the temple, they proclaimed that “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” When the Sanhedrin “saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished…” (Acts 4:12-13)

William Tyndale was the man responsible for translating the Scriptures to the English language, and he did it for two main reasons. First, he strongly believed that people hungry for the Word of God should be able to read the Bible in their own language. Church leaders vehemently opposed this because they could teach what they wanted, and the people couldn’t read it for themselves. But Tyndale did the translation anyway and had it published.

The second reason he wanted to translate the Scriptures to English was that he surveyed countless clergy and found that none of them could name all 12 original disciples. Some could name 4 or 5, but not all of them. These churches were elevating these disciples into otherworldly ‘saints’ with teachings, stained glass images showing them with halos, and advancing their character into angelic-like characters. Tyndale wanted people to read – in their own language – that these were ordinary men, just like them, that God used in mighty ways through the power He placed in them.

Sadly, after the English translation was published, Tyndale’s story ends much like the apostles: he was exiled, forced to live in poverty, persecuted, and in 1536, he was strangled and burned at the stake.

Know that God chooses you, not for what you can do for Him, but what you allow Him to do through you. He chooses common people who really know how much He loves them, who are willing to surrender their lives to His will, and be willing to walk the Spiritual Journey to partner with Him in bringing the heavenly environment to earth.