Acts 18:18-23
New King James Version (NKJV)
18 After this, Paul stayed many
days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and
with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he
was under a vow. 19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them
there, but he himself went into the
synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay
for a longer period, he declined. 21 But on taking leave of them
he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set
sail from Ephesus.
22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the
church, and then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time
there, he departed and went from one place to the
next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
As we examine Paul’s travels and his life
we see that he still had a heart for the Jews.
As soon as he arrived in Ephesus he went straight to the Synagogue where
he began reasoning with the Jews. He may
have done this because he felt the guilt of misleading the Jews prior to the Lord
calling to him. He may have felt an
obligation to them because of his misguidance or he could have just been the
best man to talk to the Jews due to his vast knowledge of the Scriptures and
the Jewish way of life. Whatever the
reason, Paul was drawn time and time again to the synagogue.
Notice though how his ministry changes
from reasoning with the Jews to greeting the church. At the churches his focus changed from
reasoning to strengthening. What are we
doing in our churches today? Is our
Pastor there to strengthen us or reason with us? Are we out in the world reasoning with others
or are we the ones that need to be reasoned with? I find it interesting that generally we
expect the Pastor to be like Paul and reason with “those people” but strengthen
me. Are we ever the ones that should be
doing the strengthening and/or the reasoning?
As you can note in the scriptures, Paul was not at any one place for
long, he traveled. Because of that, the church had to continue
the ministry of our Lord and Savior even after Paul left. Often times we put so much emphasis on a
leader that we fail to think that we too are ministers of Christ. Some of us may be outspoken, outgoing, and
love reasoning with others. Some of us
may be more reserved and let our actions speak.
Some of us may not know what to say or do and simply choose to do
nothing. I don’t know where you are in
ministry but I would urge you to consider where God would want you. Aquila and Priscilla didn’t go into the synagogue, Paul did. They had a ministry
in Ephesus too but it was separate from Paul’s even though it was on the same
matter, the Gospel of Christ.
Don’t get stuck behind the ministry of
someone else but rather seek the Lord and find out from Him where He would have
you go and minister.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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