Tuesday
Paul is standing before a very hostile group and I love how after they refuse to listen to him, he sort of plays them against each other. Since the Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead and the Pharisees did… well, it was enough to provoke them. And provoke them he did. Enough for 40 men to solemnly vow to kill Paul.
So as you were reading about the 40 men who vowed to not eat until they killed Paul, did you think… well, what happened to them after their plot was foiled? did they starve themselves to death? Or did they go back on on their vow? I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall in that room when they found out Paul was gone. – ha!
It’s a good point to make, that you should be very careful about the vows you make… they are serious and should not be made lightly or without deep thought and plenty of prayer. Do you think any of those men ever thought they would fail? Well, look at what pride got them.
So great job nephew for stepping up and telling Paul that this plot was being orchestrated. Now, for Paul it is on to another audience. How will he be received this time?
There was something else that I have noticed throughout Paul’s ministry… he always has someone helping him along the way. Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Lydia… his nephew… just to name a few. Jesus never expects us to do ministry alone… actually he makes sure that we have the help we need; we just sometimes forget to ask for it.
So… think about this, when we try to do too much on our own, are we actually robbing people of the opportunity to serve Christ? What if when we set out to do something… we would remember to first ask others to join us? God created us to have helpers (remember Eve?) and to be helpers. Ok this is me preaching to myself, but it is true, we need to call on others to use their gifts to fulfill the mission of the church and even just in our daily lives.
Peace and joy
Pastor Kathy