Whose I Am

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

WHOSE I AM

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

In the middle of one of the most difficult times in the lives of all the sailors, the pilot, and the owner who lost all his cargo, his potential profits, and now the ship has been tossed so much that it appears it will break up and they will all be left to drown out at sea, Paul tells them to keep up their courage. He told them God would save them all. It was an angel of the Lord who assured Paul of the graciousness of God, that he gave Paul all the lives who sailed with him. Paul was assured that it would happen just as he had been told because he had faith in God. This is where we enter this narrative, or learn how our lives are because of God's generosity. He gave Paul all the lives who sailed with him, but from a personal perspective, because God is generous, he gave us life. When we consider how he displayed his displeasure with all the people on earth during the time of Noah, wiping them all from the face of the earth, except Noah and his family, it is amazing to consider that he did not want us to perish, but to have everlasting life. From exacting such justice on the wickedness of mankind, to sending Jesus to pay the price for our wickedness, or sin, so that we would not be wiped off the face of the earth, but would be forgiven, as he gives us eternal life. Although it is still true that he will judge all people, and he will serve justice on those who refused his generosity, his free gift of salvation through Jesus, and they will be tossed into the sea. Still, not the type of sea the ship Paul was on, this sea they will be tossed into is the sea of burning sulfur, which is the second death. However, we can take courage; in fact, we can keep up our courage because God has graciously saved us and given us life. We will be resurrected to live forever in the presence of God, whose we are, and whom we serve because we have been told so, and we believe, we have faith in God that everything will happen just as he told us it would. It is true because we love each other, we have faith, and hope in each other, yet because of our imperfections, we fail each other. God never fails us; he is always faithful to his own word, and he said he loves us. We can profess when it comes to God, whose we are, whom we serve, He has been generous to us.