Acts 20-21

Have you ever met a really INTENSE individual? That’s how I think of Paul. He never seemed to lose focus. Can you imagine the scene? He’s preaching [actually the text says he talked on and on…is that where Jeff gets it from? :) ] Does he not notice how late it is? Anyhow, Eutychus certainly notices. I can just imagine him struggling to keep those eyes open. Finally he falls into a deep sleep, falls out the window and dies. Who could have predicted this? I never thought of listening to a sermon as a particularly dangerous activity. I guess it depends on who is preaching! Paul’s intensity never waivered. He healed the young man, went back upstairs for a food break and continued talking until daylight. I think I would have told everyone to go home and get some sleep! He was just as intense in his goodbyes. He tore himself away from the elders at Ephesus. Why? I would have lingered. He knew Jerusalem held the same fate for him as it had for his Lord. And yet we are told “he was in a hurry” to get there. In this “hurry up” world I live in, I hope the thing I am most in a hurry to do is fulfill the calling God has on my life!

Julie Hallman
April 12