Our daily reflections follow the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan, designed for those who want to read the whole Bible in one year. Each reflection focuses on one of the chapters from that day's readings. Darllenwch rhain yn Gymraeg.
Lord, open my ears to hear what you have to say to me; open my heart to love your word, and open my mind to understand your truth.
Acts 20 follows the ministry of Paul as he travelled through the many places where he had planted churches. There are many deeply serious incidents recorded in the book of Acts, but in 20.7–12 we find one with a funny side, although it’s still poignant. If you sometimes feel the preacher at your church is dragging on a little bit, you might sympathise with Eutychus, who fell asleep during a sermon by Paul which lasted until midnight. Unfortunately, doing so caused him to fall out of a third story window and die – but Paul raised him back to life again and he was taken home safe and sound. Then Paul ate with the believers and continued talking until sunrise! Rather than be discouraged that people were falling asleep during his sermon, Paul was enthused by the miracle God had done – so enthused that he stayed up preaching all night.
It can be too easy sometimes to get discouraged if we make mistakes as we live out our faith. But we can seek to have more passion and authentic enthusiasm for God. Perhaps we need to reconnect with God through prayer or through the Bible. Or perhaps we need to ask God to show us more clearly how he is working in our lives. Paul also demonstrated his passion for the gospel through his willingness to risk everything, as we shall see in the next chapter.
Dear God, help me not to get discouraged when things don’t look good and please give me more passion for following you. Speak to me and show me more of how you are working in my life.
This reflection was written by Hannah Stevens, part of Bible Society’s Publishing team
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