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Go ahead and look first at Acts 21 . See how God speaks to you individually. Then come back, if you wish, and see what God has put in my mind/heart.

Key Verse(s): Acts 21:13

Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."

Title: Heart Break

Observation: Our hearts break when we think of loss. When we will not see and touch those whom we love. Our mind rebels, we try to clutch on to those we love, to protect them, to shelter them, to keep them with us. I can not help but feel empathy for those to whom Paul was mentor, teacher, co-worker, and friend. I, too, probably would have tried to dissuade him from going to Jerusalem, where he would be arrested and would lead to his eventual martyrdom.

Saying goodbye hurts. It’s hard to let go. The thread that binds us to God and to His gift of eternal life can feel tenuous compared to the presence of another person we love. While we believe in the resurrection and that we will be united again with those who die in the Lord, it seems flimsier at times then the presence of the actual person. And we grieve.

Yet what would be sadder than Paul moving toward his own death is if Paul had nothing worth dying for. He had experience the love of Jesus Christ, the One who had shaken him out of his self-appointed life direction. One who had loved him, healed him, commissioned him, and sustained him through times good and bad. The love and salvation of Jesus Christ were enough; he was willing to die to bring others the news of God’s great love. As Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus comes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died.

We grieve in our loss. But we are not without hope. We have not been left orphans. We will see God and see our loved ones who die in the Lord once again.

Application: I need to trust God in His promise of resurrection, and not fear death or separation. I also need to be willing to die to promote the Gospel.

Prayer: Lord God, give me a reason to live and a reason to die. Help me to echo the words of Paul, To Live is Christ, to die is gain. And yet Lord I plead for life, that I might discharge the duty you have given me to teach my young son your ways, that I might see more people come to know you, that I might enjoy more of the goodness in the world in which you have placed me. Still, Lord, I submit to your sovereign will. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

In the Name of Jesus,
Amen.