Read Acts 20
Zach Rivers
Paul is known as a father of the faith for many reasons, one being his sold-out nature for the gospel. Through all his letters, he constantly urges, reminds, encourages, and teaches people and churches to stay firm in the faith. He “never hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” (Acts 20:27) and while he probably had his faults, he never failed to be honest about them. That leads us to this passage, where it seems that Paul takes everything he’s learned, lived, and done and brings it into a few emotional words that you can feel flying off the page. So, taking all that build-up and background of Paul, his amazing life, all he has done, and all he could be arrogant about, what does Paul say is the way to serve the Lord?
1) through humility
2) through tears
3) through severe testing and hardship
Wow.
Knife to the heart. We best serve God, love God, and know God when we do it humbly, with our whole heart, and through trial. So, whether it’s at your desk or in your kitchen, with family, strangers, or by yourself, God is asking for you to serve Him and love Him with your whole, humble heart and your will, not because He loves controlling you, but because it is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:38) Where else is there a picture of this? The Cross. Jesus set aside His position in heaven and humbly walked the earth, and by doing so, He faced many trials and hardships and poured out His own tears, all the while being the greatest gift to humanity.
Prayer Prompt:
Take a minute and settle your mind. In doing so, ask God to bring a time to mind when you served Him with your whole humble heart. What does He say about it?
God, we are thankful for You. We are thankful for Your Son. And we are thankful for people like Paul who have shown us beautiful, healthy examples of what it means to serve You. We ask that as we are going through this fast, You remind us of what it means to serve You with our whole hearts. We also ask that You push us into areas we haven’t been to yet. We love You. Amen
