Scripture Passage
I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus. (Acts 20:21 NLT)
Observation
How many days can I begin by thinking, “This is one of my favorite passages?”
Traveling to Jerusalem by water, Paul does not have time to journey inland to visit the city of Ephesus, so the elders from the church at Ephesus come to meet with him at Miletus. In their brief conversation, Paul testifies to the faithful diligence of his ministry among them. Paul declares the spiritual dangers they’ll face in coming days and the responsibility of those Ephesian elders to guard their own lives even as they watch over others. And Paul verifies that he held nothing back in declaring to them “the whole will of God” (Acts 20:27 NIV).
In verse 21, Paul affirms the crux of the message he delivered:
I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus (Acts 20:21 NLT).
That’s really the bottom line, isn’t it? I speak all the time. And even when I’m not speaking, my life is delivering a message all on its own. At my funeral (assuming Jesus’ return hasn’t interrupted the normal course of things first), someone will likely stand up and say, “He taught me that…” and finish that sentence with a summary of my life. I can’t think of any better descriptor of what I’d like for my life to stand for…a fundamental truth I want my life to express…more than this truth—“the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus (Acts 20:21 NLT).
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1 comment:
Pastor, ME!!! Course their will be a crowd fighting over the position. Praise God that you are a teacher. The funeral will ast about three weeks, by the time we all get up there and expound on thy virtues of wisdom. I like the verse about Jews and greeks alike also. they coulda put Oklahoma Indians in there though. Martin
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