Greived

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

GRIEVED

Acts 20:36-38

36 When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

NIV

Fellowship is a good thing. These elders were grieved they were not going to ever see Paul again. There must have been a great sense of kinship, of brotherly love between these men and Paul. He had not only shared the gospel with them, helped to them grow spiritually but also developed a close personal relationship with them. He was more than a traveling evangelist, he was a close friend. Here is where we should learn our life lesson. Can we be close friends with ever other believer? Should we have this type of bond with all other believers? It is fair to say that Paul did not have this type of relationship with all the believers in Ephesus, but only with these elders? Was it sort of a private club of pastors? Yet we can still say that we should have that type of relationships with some believers. It would be difficult to have that close of a bond with thousands of people, even hundreds, even fifty or forty, or thirty. But it is a lesson that we should have some people who we have that close of fellowship with that we would be grieved if we were never to see their faces again. That is to say we cannot be an island onto ourselves. We need friends, we need fellowship. Now that should be the key word for us, fellowship. It is certain by what Paul had told them, he spent his time with them talking about the things of God, about Jesus, about the Spirit, and how they should be living as believers. When we gather together with those we consider as friends, those whom we would be grieved if we never saw them again, are we talking about the things of God, about Jesus, about the Spirit and how we should all be living, or do we spend our time with small talk? If it is small talk then perhaps we really do not have any close relationships at all, but rather just a sort of acquaintance, knowing they name and a few personal things about each other. Maybe the reason these elders were so grieved was because Paul was not a man of small talk, but one of deep thought and concern for their spiritual well-being. He was a man who encouraged them to greatness of faith. He was a man who desired for them to know the truth, and to be strong enough in their faith and understanding of the truth to withstand the enemy of their souls. This is the type of relationships we should covet, finding those who care about us that much as well as caring about them that much. Who would we be grieved about if we never saw them again? Who would be grieved if they never saw us again?