Word of His Grace

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

WORD OF HIS GRACE

Acts 20:32-38

32 "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" 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

This is a sad goodbye because Paul said they would not see his face again, but there is a truth we should ponder. We could consider that Paul never took money from the people he ministered to, but that does not compute in our time and culture. Some pastors are bi-vocational because the church does not pay them enough to support their families in the customs of our society. However, because, for the most part, pastors today are paid either by the local church or by the denomination. The truth we want to ponder is that Paul committed them to God and to the word of his grace, which would have built them up and given them an inheritance among all those who are made holy. Interestingly, being sanctified means we are made holy, which makes it impossible for us to sanctify ourselves; it is an act of God. Although Paul committed them to God, we can commend ourselves to God. Again, we find it interesting that the Greek word translated as "commit" means "to place beside or near." We can place ourselves beside God; however, God, the Holy Spirit, dwells within us, so then we are near to God, for he is near to us. To be near and have the word of grace, which can build us up and give us an inheritance among all who have been made holy, is incredible. The word grace can have various applications. First, grace affords joy and delight. But in the spiritual sense, being in the goodwill, loving-kindness, and favor of God. However, because of grace, it defines the spiritual condition of those who have the divine influence on their hearts and how that is reflected in their lives. We are supposed to build each other up, but the fact remains that we cannot build ourselves up; we are all built up by the power of the divine influence on our hearts. We also have the joy and serenity of knowing that we have a divine inheritance. Because of Jesus, or through Jesus, we are adopted as children of God and thus are co-heirs with Jesus in this divine inheritance. Let us commend ourselves to God and live with the word of his grace.