As I read about Paul's time in Greece a question from my flesh, my past surfaces. I can't help but notice that when this threat from the Jews who desire to kill Paul arises the group of men that travels with him triples in size. I wonder if they considered themselves a kind of body guard? Probably just a sign of my sin.
Paul gets talking to them in Troas and goes into overtime! He preaches so long that a young man falls asleep, and FALLS OUT A WINDOW! Wow, I will never apologize for preaching to long again! Paul goes down to the fallen boy and raises him up, then he serves communion and resumes preaching until dawn! I would have loved to have been there with a tape recorder to soak in all the wisdom Paul shared.
Paul continues on his journey of faith without fear. He tells the saints in Ephesus that he will never see them again with these powerful words, "And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me." Acts 20:22&23 NRSV.
What small inconveniences turn us away from obedience. i wonder if I will ever grow up to be the man of God that God intends for me to be. Lord, please give me courage and help me live a life that pleases you. Amen.
About Me
- Pastor Bill
- I am a committed follower of Jesus Christ, a happy husband, father and grandfather!
2 comments:
Hm. I don't think it's a sign of your sin to wonder if they saw themselves as bodyguards of sorts - what would be so wrong with that? Maybe it would be a way they could serve - protecting Paul a bit?
In these weeks when so many pastors are saying goodbye to congregations and hello to new ones, I thought Paul's words were particularly meaningful. The bittersweetness of leaving a congregation is acute! But sometimes, hopefully, we are all "captive to the Spirit" whether we wish to be or not.
You know, I think it would be interesting to be in Paul's position. He was preaching to people who had much less knowledge of the subject than he - and he was the expert. They were all captive because of this, but this also made him feel that he had to tell as much as he could in the limited time that he had. I would imagine that he never felt like he said enough, and often left one town saying, "darn I forgot about..." Now, we are so used to short sermons, as we are all able to find a lot of the things Paul preached about in the New Testament. The urgency does not seem as animate, because the faith has already spread. However, we really do need to be animate about our faith, because we're only one generation from extinction.
The other night, at my bachelor party, I was up most of the night talking to some kids about Christian Love. I guess we should always be like that, right? Like Paul's experience in this chapter.
In verse 23, which follows the ones you highlighted, PB, he says that he hopes only to do what God wanted, and not worry too much about his life. Do we ever think like that?
So much to learn from Paul.
God bless!
Marshall
P.S. - so were they body guards? :-P
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