In the Book of Acts there is a story about The Apostle Paul. He begins this part of the text in Ephesus and ends up in Syria. This is part of Paul's last trip. Anywhere.
There are a few things worthy of noting here. Look who he was with at the beginning and the end of his journey. And notice all of the stops he made along the way.
"³⁶When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. ³⁸What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
¹After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. ²We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. ³After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days." - Acts 20:36 - 21:4
Paul began and ended his trip with the "churches" he had started years earlier. He stayed with them and prayed with them. They loved each other and they all loved God.
Don't we all take similar journeys in our walk with Jesus? We begin and end in a church (baptism / funeral). We make many stops along the way. And we meet many people during our trip that we love.
I talk to many people about Jesus. Some are already my brothers and sisters. Some are not. And SOME, I have no idea where they stand.
I was given a gift this past week. One of the "I don't knows" sent me a text message, asking me to pray for her son. This has never happened before from this person. Why me?
Years before this prayer request I had prayed for this lady as she went through a personal tragedy. We talked, and then I prayed for her. That was the beginning of friendship and a journey. A journey to Jesus.
We meet many such people as we "sail" from one "port" to another in this life. What is our purpose? Christ! How do we pour into those relationships? Prayer and love!
What did they do in verse 36? They prayed and loved as they hugged and kissed each other goodbye. Do we have those kinds of relationships in our lives? Do we ask each other for prayer? Do we embrace them and love them like Paul did? Will it be the last time that we ever see them?
Pray and love. Always.
I shared this movie clip a few weeks ago but I am sharing it again because it fits. It features a tearful goodbye that almost didn't happen. Tears of joy and thanksgiving were shed. THEN they said goodbye. Just like they did in the Book of Acts.
"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity." - Proberbs 17:17
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