Faith in Action

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

FAITH IN ACTION

Acts 21:1-6

21:1 After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. 2 We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. 4 Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. 6 After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

NIV

This is a real travel log and on the surface that appears to be all this is. However, there is one comment that Luke makes about what happened when they landed at Tyre. Because of the ship having to unload its burden, they must have had time to wander around the city or at least the port area and in doing so they found some disciples. Here again, we find that it is not unusual for Paul to simply stay for seven days. We would not even consider such a layover in our travels, just to visit with a fellow Christian. We might consider a couple of hours, maybe, but not seven days. For one, we would have to do laundry and pay for dinner out at least once or twice for the hospitality of whoever it is we are staying seven days with. Again, then we have to consider if we would be that hospitable if someone from our past showed up and said they were going spend seven days with us on their way to another destination. That fact that our friend of the past didn’t even come specifically to see us, but just found out we live in a place on the way to their desired location. Times have changed a lot within the community of faith, mostly because of the culture. Still, we noticed one point that serves as a lesson. If their urging Paul not to go to Jerusalem was through the Spirit, why did he not pay attention to the Spirit? Had the Spirit given Paul a different direction other than through their urging through the Spirit? We know the Spirit is not confused, or double-handed, so if they heard the Spirit and through Paul should not go to Jerusalem, we must conclude that Paul had his own plans and did not want to listen to the Spirit, which is very weird indeed. We do not know what they all prayed when all the disciples, their wives, and children followed Paul and his companions out of the city. Perhaps for Paul to have a safe journey, or whatever, but the point is they prayed together before he left them. They knelt and prayed on the beach, in the open, in front of whoever was around, as this was the place the ship was anchored. It would appear, there was no dock, but as in some cases, the ship would set anchor close to a beach, and then cargo would be unloaded onto small vessels to be carried to shore. Nevertheless, they prayed not paying any attention if someone around could hear them. We could learn a lesson about being that bold, as to pray in public with someone who needed our prayers. This is faith in action and therefore their faith was not dead.