Grow Where You’re Planted!
May 22, 2022 No. 17
The book of Acts was written by Luke. You know there is also another book of the New Testament named for its author—Luke. Luke was a physician. His ethnicity was Greek, which in that day could have been translated as Gentile (non-Jew). As far as we know, Luke is the only Gentile author in the New Testament.
Acts was written as a follow-up to the Gospel book of Luke. The book of Acts has been described as an accurate historical record of the early church, and it’s also looked at for theological accounts highlighting living illustrations of the work of the Holy Spirit. Citing real-life instances of church relationships and how the early church was organized, Luke highlights the place that grace establishes in our actual society.
This week on the “Being in Step with God” blog, we’ll explore Acts 20:17-24 to see how “Dr. Luke” looks at how the Apostle Paul valued his life—“worth nothing…” (Acts 20:24 TLB) unless he did the work assigned to him by God. Paul’s story includes his early life as a learned member in the Roman and high-order Jewish government structures. Interesting (fun) fact which helped Paul in his (later) ministry: Paul was a Roman citizen.
Early on, we read about Saul of Tarsus, about how he was combing the landscape rounding up Jesus followers and oppressing them. It is safe to say that Saul was infamous for his cruelty toward anyone/everyone who declared their belief of and following after Jesus Christ. Saul was approached by Jesus in a blinding light on the road to Damascus, when he called Saul to follow him. It was then and there that Saul accepted Jesus’ call and lived the remainder of his life as Paul.
So, Saul was given a “calling” to follow and preach the word of Jesus. Talking about a MAJOR CHANGE in his life! Saul was not only called to a new lifestyle, but God went to the extent of even changing his name! If you’ll recall, Jesus was known for doing this. We know that a number of his early followers were renamed. How do you feel about that?
I know that when I accepted Jesus’ invitation to come into my life (into my heart) at the age of 16, no one told me that I would need to change my name. Just sayin’, God allowed me to keep the name my parents gave me (although a new PA friend started calling me “Rick” and I kind of liked it).
What’s your call? As a young adult, I thought I was being called to go into full-time Christian ministry. When I talked it over with my wife, it was evident that she wasn’t behind me in that (and I felt strongly that she would’ve felt a positive calling as well, as my partner in the ministry). And then after many years, it was an obvious calling, for me to go into full-time public-school teaching. I knew it was God’s calling, because my wife was behind me 100%! What a really-cool feeling it was to see a way to go to work every day excited about what I was going to be doing that day! Thanks to Facebook, I am in contact with many of my former students to this very day. Praise God!
What about you? Are you being called to a ministry of some kind? You know, I talked earlier about “full-time ministry.” I think if we look at Paul’s position in Acts 20:24, “But life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love”, we can be in “full-time ministry” too!
I’ve written in the book that given some time, faith, and experience we can walk closely in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to navigate life with us every day, if only we will let him! You can have an impact for Christ wherever you go, yes, even at work. When I taught school (public school), even though I didn’t preach Jesus in the classroom every day, I was given opportunities where I was able to give my witness. Since I’ve retired, I have had former students share with me that they sensed my Christianity just from the model I provided as I lived among them. Praise God for His ability to move among us!
So what are you going to do? Ask God to show you how to be into “full-time ministry” right where you are.
God Bless…
