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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
After 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. We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. After 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. We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days.
Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.
Acts 21:1-6
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Most people enjoy traveling and this summer, we have seen this on full display. After an extended period of isolation due to the pandemic, this summer we have been set free to get back to a new normal. Places that were closed off to us last year have reopened with distancing and mask restrictions put aside for the most part or at least made optional.
And so people have left the confines of their homes and got out to visit family, sightsee, get some rest and relaxation, or just enjoy life in general. Whether it was locally (what my wife and I refer to as “stay-cations), nationally, or even internationally as many places in the world have opened up for flights to resume, people have been on the move again. They have started to travel and as that has happened, we’ve been reminded once again of one important thing.
Traveling is inherently dangerous.
Consider driving. Often we are on the highway, hurtling along at high speeds with other vehicles going in the same direction and at the same speed. As you are in the midst of traffic, all it takes is one person being careless or reckless for a potential life threatening situation.
Sometimes, the road is single lane in both directions. You are going at speed in your vehicle while another is doing the same coming at you with only a painted yellow line in between. We do this so often that we take for granted the real danger that exists. For all it would take is for the oncoming car to cross the yellow line and you will have a head on collision, one that even the best safety devices might not be able to stop death from knocking on your door.
And then there is flying. You sit strapped in a seat and leave the safe security of the ground to climb to 20,000 or 30,000 feet above. You get somewhere much faster but there is always the possibility that something in the plane fails. You are only one major malfunction away from heading toward the ground at a speed non-conducive to survival.
Did I mention that travel was inherently dangerous?
It is and so before we head out and before we head home, we had better take a moment to pray, asking our Lord for His traveling mercies. This exactly what we saw Paul do before he left the company of the Ephesian elders.
Now, let’s go back in time to our passage for today from the opening verses of Acts 21. Paul is in the final stages of his third missionary journey and has just finished up addressing a group of elders from the church in Ephesus who traveled to Miletus at Paul’s request. It was an emotional farewell as Paul informed the elders that they would never get to see his face again. And with that, Paul went to sea to return to Jerusalem.
Now, travel at sea was very precarious in Paul’s day. The ships weren’t as solid as they are today and you certainly didn’t have the cushy accommodations found in the cruise ships of modern time. The ships were made of wood and navigation aids were certainly not as technologically advanced as we see now. In fact, there was no such thing as technology in New Testament days.
And then, there was the weather. No weather reports to go off of. No weather radar to see what was coming or ahead. No fair warning of impending danger.
And so ships would sail into storms and those storms would often tear a ship up or drive it into rocks or beaches to run the ship aground. Later in this series of devotions from Acts, we’ll see that Paul actually ends up shipwrecked on Malta during his fourth missionary journey.
So sea travel was precarious but as we see in these opening six verses of Acts, chapter 21, Paul wasn’t exactly shying away from getting underway when he needed to. We read where he “put out to sea” from Miletus and “sailed straight to Kos” before then sailing to first Rhodes and then Patara. From Patara, Paul and his traveling companions “found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia” and got aboard. Sailing south of Cyprus, Paul went onto Syria and then onto Tyre, where he went ashore as the ship he was on was unloading cargo in the famous Phoenician port. In Tyre, Paul and his fellow Christians “sought out the disciples” and proceeded to stay “with them seven days.”
The scriptures tell us that the disciples in Tyre had received some visions from the Holy Spirit of how Paul faced possible danger if he followed through with his visit to Jerusalem. They urged him not to go but Paul himself was connected with the Holy Spirit as well and he was being called the Jerusalem, no matter what awaited him there. Paul was committed to the Jerusalem visit unless the Lord prevented him otherwise.
So when the week was up, Paul prepared to leave Tyre, going back to sea as he headed toward Jerusalem. All of the disciples and their families, which the scriptures tell us included wives and children, accompanied Paul and his companions out of the city and before boarding the ship, they knelt to pray.
Here, prayers were not only in order for the remaining journey left but also for Paul’s safety once he reached Jerusalem. Both were a part of the prayers for the Lord to grant traveling mercies and to protect Paul against any and all harm.
And with that, Paul was off. He boarded the ship and the Tyre disciples and their families returned home. There were a few more stops ahead before he reached his destination and we’ll look at those tomorrow.
Have a blessed day there.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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