Day 63: To Arrive: Avoid Rabbit Holes (Acts 28:30)
Today’s Passage: Acts 28:30
Do you like books and movies that resolve themselves at the end? You know, the kind of story where everything has reached a conclusion.
Many of us are fans of the TV murder mystery where, using scientific proof and clever logic, our heroes settle all, and do so in less than 60 minutes!
They will often chase after clues that lead them down rabbit trails, but they have their goal in sight.
So how are you feeling about the end of this journey through Acts? A journey I started with the theme of Living with Certainty.
Did you make it to your goal?
For me, it does not feel like anything is resolved with Paul. Does Paul actually make it to Caesar? If so, what happened? Does the church really grow like gang-busters in Rome? What about Paul, how does his life end?
All of these questions may be natural, especially because we have spent so many chapters with Paul (and his companions such as Luke). While natural to ask, they take us far afield of the point God is giving us in this great book of the Bible.
Let me use a comparison. People ask what Jesus was like as a little boy. While we are curious about this kind of question, to pursue it is to miss the point of God Incarnate coming to this planet to die for our sins on the Cross, defeat death, and make a way for us to God the Father.
Sometimes our curiosity about Jesus’ life, or Paul’s, or any of the Bible’s characters can lead us down a rabbit trail—which means we need to ask: What is the goal we are aiming at, as we read The Acts of the Apostles.
I suggested that we would be reading about people who were living their lives with certainty in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. That He indeed is God come to earth. That He has commissioned us to Love God and Love Neighbor as we love ourselves…and He has commanded us to Go and Make Disciples of all Nations, baptizing them…
The Acts of the Apostles shows us what sinful people, who seek to make following Jesus the aim of their lives, looks like. Certainly, it is not a comprehensive description of what following Jesus looks like. In the 2,000 years since his Ascension and sending the Holy Spirit, we have many Christian lives to reflect upon.
Following Jesus is about 1. Being aimed towards God, and 2. How we walk each day towards that aim.
The Acts of the Apostles is more than a historical view—it is God’s Word—and God’s Word is meant to shape us.
So rather than me try and “tie this all up in a bow”, let me ask you to post an answer to a question. There won’t be a wrong answer. But my hope is to keep you off any rabbit trails.
Simply think about the early apostles in chapters 1-3, or Peter, Stephen, Phillip, Luke, or Paul…or maybe an episode and how the people following God responded (remember those nights of prayer)…or maybe how God used healing.