READING: Job 10-13, Acts 19:21-20:16
No matter who we are, some of us who are preachers preach long sermons at times. Folks don’t always pay attention for the duration, and some even fall asleep. The apostle Paul learned that truth the hard way, when a young man named Eutychus fell asleep during Paul’s sermon, fell out the window of the place they were meeting, and died!
That story could have been quite tragic, except for what Paul did next. He halted his preaching, went to the boy, and raised him from the dead. What most catches my attention, though, is what Paul did after that. He went back upstairs, broke bread, and then started preaching again! He had talked until midnight when the tragedy with Eutychus took place, and then he talked again “a long time until dawn.” Apparently, the death of a young man who fell asleep during Paul’s sermon didn’t deter him from teaching again for a long time.
How and why could Paul talk so long? He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he had a message to proclaim. That message is urgent, so he used every opportunity he had to speak the gospel. You can talk a long time when you’re fascinated with Jesus!
PRAYER: “God, give me wonder and urgency that compel me to talk about You.”
DAILY ACTION STEP: Tell somebody something – even a short “something”—about Jesus today.
TOMORROW’S READING: Job 14-16, Acts 20:17-38
