“And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified…And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.” -Acts 20: 32, 36. (NKJV Read Acts 20).
Much like Jesus who “set his face steadfastly toward Jerusalem,” knowing that suffering awaited him there, so Paul, at a point in his missionary journey, determined to go back to Jerusalem, even though the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that “chains and tribulations” (23) would await him there.
On the journey back to Jerusalem, Paul made stops and contacts along the way, mainly to strengthen and encourage the churches he had visited before. From Ephesus, Paul moved in his journey to Maceonia and stayed three months in Greece. An unusual thing happened at Troas. Paul was preaching well past midnight. The believers gathered in a room on the third story of a house. And during the long sermon, a young man named Eutychus (whose name, by the way, means “good fortune”) fell out of the window to the ground. The fall knocked the life completely out of him. Paul went down, embraced him and restored him to life.
From Troas, Paul’s entourage went to Miletus. From there he sent a message to the elders in the church at Ephesus who came to hear Paul’s instruction. He told them to guard against false doctrine and shepherd well the church of God. He reminded them that God and the word of His grace would strengthen them. Paul also told them that they would see his face no more. And then he prayed with them.
Goodbyes are always tinged with deep sadness. To Paul the Apostle, who had made many contacts and Christian friends, knowing that they would not meet again on earth brought sorrow. But greater than the sadness was the knowledge Paul had of doing the Lord’s bidding. His determination to face chains and imprisonment could not deter him from the path God had set before him. Would that we could set our face steadfastly toward our own calling in Christ Jesus. Farewells notwithstanding, a determination to do the Lord’s will should be our foremost aim.
On the journey back to Jerusalem, Paul made stops and contacts along the way, mainly to strengthen and encourage the churches he had visited before. From Ephesus, Paul moved in his journey to Maceonia and stayed three months in Greece. An unusual thing happened at Troas. Paul was preaching well past midnight. The believers gathered in a room on the third story of a house. And during the long sermon, a young man named Eutychus (whose name, by the way, means “good fortune”) fell out of the window to the ground. The fall knocked the life completely out of him. Paul went down, embraced him and restored him to life.
From Troas, Paul’s entourage went to Miletus. From there he sent a message to the elders in the church at Ephesus who came to hear Paul’s instruction. He told them to guard against false doctrine and shepherd well the church of God. He reminded them that God and the word of His grace would strengthen them. Paul also told them that they would see his face no more. And then he prayed with them.
Goodbyes are always tinged with deep sadness. To Paul the Apostle, who had made many contacts and Christian friends, knowing that they would not meet again on earth brought sorrow. But greater than the sadness was the knowledge Paul had of doing the Lord’s bidding. His determination to face chains and imprisonment could not deter him from the path God had set before him. Would that we could set our face steadfastly toward our own calling in Christ Jesus. Farewells notwithstanding, a determination to do the Lord’s will should be our foremost aim.
c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Wednesday, May 5, 2010
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