Good morning Lord Jesus, here and now let my deep encounter your deep.
“When it was decided we would sail to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.” (Acts 27:1)
The story of Paul’s journey to Rome is told in great detail in this chapter. This literary effect of slowing down the passage of time by narrating with many details serves to add a sense of drama to the events described. The story illustrates the difficulty, dangers and hazards of travel by ship and the journey Paul had to take to follow God’s will for his life. From the perspective of someone reading this story in Palestine in the time this chapter was written, this may well picture a journey to "the end of the earth" quite literally.
This reflects back to Jesus’ words, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth.”( Acts 1:8) However, this voyage even with all its difficulty serves to show how God protected Paul on his long journey to Rome.
Throughout the story it states how Paul advised them. Though Paul is under arrest and is simply a prisoner, he will be the one to guide them all through the dangers of the storm and shipwreck, showing clearly God's presence and protection of him.
Following God’s call on his life was not an easy journey for Paul. Many times throughout the Book of Acts of the Apostles we are reading, we have read how he endured dangers, trials, arrests, beatings, imprisonment, being stoned, attacked by mobs, insults, abuse, persecution, misunderstandings, hardships, and other difficulties. It would be easy to understand if during any one of these times Paul said to himself, “this is just to hard!” and quit. Following God’s call on our lives today is also not an easy journey. Though we try to surround ourselves with as much comforts as possible, when we step out of these and truly follow God’s leading for our lives today we will also experience challenges, difficulties, misunderstandings, persecution, and insults. John Wesley, our founder of the Methodist movement said that if after preaching the Gospel in a town he was not driven out of it and had produce and other objects thrown at him, he feared he did not share the Gospel clearly and completely enough to them.
My family, I pray this morning you will ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a clear understanding of your calling and the journey your faith in Jesus Christ demands of you. Why are you here? Where is Jesus calling to to go? I pray you will not be seek a journey based on complacency, comfort or safety, but a journey based on obedience to your radical calling as a disciple of Jesus, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections of Acts 27 with us in the comment box below.
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