The Double Blessing

Acts 21: 1-6

“1 When we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2 When we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, we went on board and set sail. 3 We came in sight of Cyprus; and leaving it on our left, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, because the ship was to unload its cargo there. 4 We looked up the disciples and stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When our days there were ended, we left and proceeded on our journey; and all of them, with wives and children, escorted us outside the city. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed   6 and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.”

The people that Paul met on his way to Jerusalem warned him not to go to Jerusalem, 

Paul, himself, knew that he would suffer and would be imprisoned there, yet he was willing to go because he trusted that God was leading him and would continue to lead him until the end. 

Paul’s attitude was “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:8)

This is the double blessing that Christ offers us; the blessing in this life of knowing and serving the one true God,  and the blessing after death of everlasting life in the presence of God.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)