Acts - Week 10 / Thursday

Reading for today: Acts 20:13-24

Luke and the rest of Paul's company did not stay until daylight. They went on ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, where they would meet up with Paul, who was walking to Assos, which was a shorter distance.

Luke does not tell us why Paul did this. A little later Paul told the Ephesian elders that in every city the Holy Spirit warned him that chains and persecution awaited him in Jerusalem. Perhaps Paul needed this time alone to settle it with God about going to Jerusalem.

They all sailed past Ephesus, because Paul did not want to spend too much time there. He wans in a hurry to get to Jerusalem by the Day of Pentecost, if possible. Paul did not bypass Ephesus because of any lack of concern for the church there. In fact, he called for the elders of the church in Ephesus to come to Miletus.

This was a very serious occasion for him because he believed it would be the last time he would ever see them. He began by reminding them how all the time he was with them he served the Lord with all humility, with tears, and with testings brought on by the plots of the unbelieving Jews.

At the same time, he did not let danger cause him to shrink from telling them anything that was beneficial, teaching them publicly and in their homes. Paul told the elders that he was going to Jerusalem, not of his own will, but compelled by the Spirit to go. He didnn't know exactly what would happen to him there, but he had been watned repeatedly by the Holy Spirit that chains and persecution awaited him.

The witness of the Holy Spirit was not intended to stop Paul from going. The Holy Spirit had compelled him to go, and he was willing to go. He fully intended to finish the task that God had given to him to accomplish. To Paul, that was more important than his own like, so why shouldn't he go?

I wonder how eager I would have been to continue on to Jerusalem if I knew for certain that persecution and pain and chains awaited me?

Tomorrow: Paul says "farewell" to his friends