To Be Continued...

Good Morning!!!

Back when I was young (eons ago), B movies were the fare for Saturday mornings. There were the old Tarzan movies (I could never understand why Tarzan looked different from Saturday to Saturday – until I realized that Tarzan was played by both Buster Crabbe and by Johnny Weismueller). And there was Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Add to that some of the old forties space movies. We immersed ourselves in the action packed thrillers of yester year. Many of these were serials – you know, the movies that were “to be continued” – ad nauseum. But we loved it.

Well, our Bible study yesterday was a “to be continued” study. We are late into Acts (Chapter 21 to be exact) and Paul has returned to Jerusalem. On his trip in to Jerusalem, all of his companions and brothers in Christ were warning him not to go – but Paul insisted that he needed to go to Jerusalem. When Paul arrives, James (the brother of Jesus and the leader of the church in Jerusalem) explains to him that his preaching has been distorted and that he is in grave danger. James and the brethren cook up a plan to try to make Paul acceptable to the Jews – but it is foiled when some of the Jewish travelers from Asia recognize him and make a big stink. Suddenly the crowd surrounds Paul and wants to do him in – but a Roman tribune rescues him from the crowd. So Paul asks to speak to the crowd … and Chapter 21 ends. To be continued.

Some points to think about:
(1) Paul was in danger – and he knew it. But Paul also knew the Holy Spirit was leading him to Jerusalem. Sometimes we feel like we are in danger but also feel compelled to stay the course because we know that God is leading us in that direction.
(2) James and the brethren were trying to be helpful BUT pretending to be something you aren’t isn’t the right way to go. James wanted Paul to pretend to conform to the religious practices of sacrifice. Paul knew that there was no longer need to offer sacrifice since Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Conforming to the world only makes one hypocritical. And we know that the world uses our conformity to “prove” that Christ makes no difference.
(3) God intervenes. I don’t think it happenstance that the Jews from Asia recognized Paul. The message that Paul carried that day was too important. It was best that Paul not carry through the “good intentions” of James and the brethren even if it meant Paul was in mortal danger.

So what’s the lesson for me – and you? The message we carry is very precious. We should guard it with our lives. By that I mean that we should live out the life God has prepared for us and not be conformed to the world. What was it that John wrote?

1 John 2:15-17 (English Standard Version)
Do Not Love the World
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

God bless you this Monday – yes, it is Monday. May He give you the best of days today – and may your life be filled with the sweet joy of His salvation.

Agape’

Mr. Jim