{"id":32454,"date":"2024-09-03T22:00:18","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T05:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts-20_1-12-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-08-02T09:55:36","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T16:55:36","slug":"acts-20_13-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts-20_13-24\/","title":{"rendered":"Empowering Responsibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 20:13-24\u00a0 \u00a0 (CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 20:13-24.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 20:13-16 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot.<\/em>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene.<\/em>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Kios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus.<\/em>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-16:\u00a0 When I read these verses I get the sense that Paul is engaged in a race against time, as if every second counts and every moment matters.\u00a0 As he travels from place to place, he doesn\u2019t take the scenic route.\u00a0 Nor does he stop to veg out.\u00a0 Instead, Paul goes from Troas on foot to Assos, then takes a ship to Mitylene.\u00a0 The next day he sails to Kios (v15), the day after to Samos, the following day to Miletus.\u00a0 He skips past Ephesus so that he can get to Jerusalem as soon as possible.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if Paul is trying to find the quickest route he can to get to Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

Why was Paul in such a hurry?\u00a0 It\u2019s because Paul and his team were carrying significant funds from different churches who had trusted them to take an offering to the church in Jerusalem as a thank you gift.\u00a0 So Paul knows he has been entrusted with a significant responsibility and he doesn\u2019t have time to waste.\u00a0 Knowing he is accountable for this money, Paul does everything he can to get to Jerusalem as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0When you\u2019re entrusted with other people\u2019s money, you want to be incredibly responsible with it.<\/strong>\u00a0 That means using that money only for the purpose that you agreed to use it for and doing so efficiently and thoughtfully.\u00a0 That means keeping good records.\u00a0 That means reporting to the person who entrusted you with the money and giving them an accounting of what you did with it.\u00a0 \u00a0As 1 Corinthians 4:2 says,\u00a0\u201cNow it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.\u201d\u00a0 Especially if we are God\u2019s children and His representatives on earth, we want to be the most responsible and trustworthy people when it comes to money.<\/p>\n

Acts 20:17-24 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n<\/em>17\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.<\/em>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia.<\/em>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews.<\/em>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.<\/em>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.<\/em>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.<\/em>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.<\/em>
\n24\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 17-24:\u00a0 Paul was so set on going to Jerusalem that on his way there he doesn\u2019t even stop at Ephesus.\u00a0 But since the church in Ephesus is still on his heart, Paul sends for the elders of Ephesus, knowing that this was likely the last time they would see him.<\/p>\n

As Paul talks with the Ephesian elders for the last time, once again you can see how Paul is driven by a sense of responsibility.\u00a0 Not only when it comes to dealing with other people\u2019s money, but when it comes to dealing with all of life generally, including the time and talents God had entrusted to Paul, Paul wants to be nothing short of absolutely faithful with what God had given to him, even if it means going through a great deal of hardship (v23).\u00a0 As he says in verse 24, \u201cI consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul is clear about the mission he is on, about the race he is running, and about the task that God has given to him through Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And Paul will stop at nothing to finish that race and complete that task.\u00a0 You could say that this sense of responsibility empowered Paul\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes responsibility can feel like a burden, a duty, or an obligation.\u00a0 But responsibility can also have this way of empowering us<\/strong>, causing us to get off our butts and do something meaningful with our lives.\u00a0 When you have an empowering sense of responsibility \u2013 a sense of calling, a sense of mission, a sense of \u201cI was made to do this\u201d \u2013 it puts purpose into your existence, causes you to work that much harder, and to live as if every moment matters.<\/p>\n

I pray that, like Paul, you would have an empowering sense of responsibility.\u00a0\u00a0May you not aimlessly bounce from day to day without purpose, but like Paul may you know why you are here and spend every ounce of yourself in fulfilling that mission.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Paul had that.\u00a0 Jesus had that.\u00a0 And as followers of Jesus, let\u2019s live that way too.<\/p>\n

You have a calling: to be alive and worship Jesus, to be expectant and grow more like Jesus, to be involved and serve God with your talents, to be out loud and lead others to Jesus, and to be united and love your spiritual family.<\/p>\n

Life is way too short to waste it on things that don\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

Father, I pray for every person reading this GAME sharing today, that they would be clear on the race and the task that the Lord Jesus has given them and that, like Paul, they would make it their life\u2019s ambition to finish that race well and complete that task faithfully.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 20:13-24.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Acts 20:13-16 (NIV)
\n13\u00a0\u00a0We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot.
\n14\u00a0\u00a0When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Kios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus.
\n16\u00a0\u00a0Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 13-16:\u00a0 When I read these verses I get the sense that Paul is engaged in a race against time, as if every second counts and every moment matters.\u00a0 As he travels from place to place, he doesn\u2019t take the scenic route.\u00a0 Nor does he stop to veg out.\u00a0 Instead, Paul goes from Troas on foot to Assos, then takes a ship to Mitylene.\u00a0 The next day he sails to Kios (v15), the day after to Samos, the following day to Miletus.\u00a0 He skips past Ephesus so that he can get to Jerusalem as soon as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32454"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32457,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32454\/revisions\/32457"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}