Let Not the World Bind You

Change

We are restless because of incessant change, but we would be frightened if change were stopped.

Lyman L. Bryson

Acts 21:10-14
As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: "In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'" When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, "The will of the Lord be done!" NASU

Norman Mailer, a well known American author, had this to say about change; “Every moment of one's existence one is growing into more or retreating into less. One is always living a little more or dying a little bit.” We read above of the response of the church to Paul’s departure, there was sadness and weeping. It would be a change in their daily spiritual experience, and their concern for Paul was legitimate, he was leaving a stable, safe, and loving environment, for the dangerous political environment that existed in Jerusalem at the time.

Paul had a truth guarded and protected deep inside his heart though and you hear it from his own lips in Romans 14:7-8. “For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.” Hallelujah! Now that is walking in faith and not in the temporary and limited world in which we live. Paul had seen a lot in that meeting with Christ on the road to Damascus, and it framed his actions, and it gave him a desire to “keep moving” for Christ.

Those around him desired to keep Paul there; they had a great love for him. They had a great preacher and pastor, but Paul had seen Jesus, and Jesus had given him orders that were more important to Paul than anything on this earth. So, Paul kept on moving, moving toward fulfillment of the spread of the gospel, so as to fulfill God’s purpose on this earth and not his.

There are times in our Christian experience that we want to park and stay in the same place and enjoy the “good times,” but there is danger in this practice. The Church is not our Church, it is God’s Church, and it must continue to grow and expand, and change, to fulfill the “Great Commission.” Instead of worrying about losing what we have, we must share it. We must go out and bring others in to have a real experience of the wonder we have in our relationship with Christ…God Bless.

Pastor William