Belonging

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

BELONGING

Acts 27:21-26

21 After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island."

NIV

Things were getting extremely difficult and the loss of all the cargo, and even some of the ships tackle had already happened and now it seemed the loss of the ship and the lives on board were certain as well. All hope was gone and it even seemed useless to even bother to eat. It was just a matter of time before the seas would swallow them up. There can be times in our lives when it might seem we could relate to this hopeless estate but we need to remember these men did not know God as Paul and we do. In the midst of the worst of it God sends an angel to Paul and tells him that all the lives on board will be spared because of him, although the material things will not. The ship will be crushed and broken up, but all lives will be spared so do not give up, have courage and watch God save you, was the message Paul had for them. Although we could focus once again on this truth of God intervening in the most difficult times and we should never loss hope, it would be good for us to zero in on something else Paul told them. When he told them an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve, he said a mouthful. But he also made a point we should take to heart. Paul said the God whose I am, which means he belonged to God, and he served him. It would be good for us to remember we also belong to God and we are to serve him. This makes it clear, not simply implies, that we do not belong to ourselves or to Satan. We belong to God. Our lives should not be so focused on our own desires and needs as much as they are but rather on the fact that we belong to God. Knowing his character, knowing him in a personal way has to produce a life full of hope. Even when difficult times come, if they do, we must always remember we belong to God and that has to mean something. It is possible that we could loss all material goods, as this story shows us, but God will make sure we survive so that we can accomplish his plan for our lives, as he told Paul, that he must testify before Caesar in Rome. God will assure that we will be able to accomplish that which he has set before us to do. That is the other portion of Paul’s statement, the God whom I serve. Because we belong to God, it is our task to serve at his pleasure. We do whatever he requires of us to do. This has to be our life lesson, the ultimate life lesson. We are not our own, we are his. It is to God that we belong.