God Running is a place for anyone who wants to (or even anyone who wants to want to) love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.
In our last post from the book of Acts we learned about how Paul lived his life in a way that resulted in Paul being free from regrets. And we learned how you and I can live a life free of regrets. If you’re interested you can read more here: “The Only Sure Path to Living a Life Without Regret (On Love and Pain)–Acts 20:13-38”.
In today’s post we’ll look at the first paragraph in Acts chapter 21, and specifically, we’ll look at one particular pronoun used in that paragraph: the word we. And we’ll discuss why that word is so important.
Acts 21:1-6
And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.
The Power of We
So in this paragraph describing Paul’s travels, I couldn’t help but notice how often the word we appears:
“. . . when we had parted . . .”
“. . . we came by a straight course . . .”
“. . . we went aboard and set sail.”
“When we had come in sight of Cyprus . . .”
“. . . we sailed to Syria . . .”
“. . . we stayed there for seven days.”
“. . . we departed and went on our journey . . .”
“. . . with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city.”
“And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed . . .”
“Then we went on board the ship . . .”
(Emphasis mine)
I hadn’t thought about it much, but, Paul always seems to be traveling with other Jesus followers. As we journey through Acts with Paul, we don’t see him by himself much.
And that’s a great example for you and for me.
If you follow God Running, you know I lost my Mom recently. If you’re interested you can read more about that here: “An Unexpected Death in My Family”. And here: “The Only Sure Path to Living a Life Without Regret (On Love and Pain)–Acts 20:13-38”.
Today I only want to say, what a difference it made traveling on this path of grief with family and friends who are Jesus followers. The other day a friend of mine shared with me about how he lost his mother when he was in his early thirties. He said he lived some hours away and after his mother’s death he drove home after just a few days with his family. But he quickly realized he came home too soon. His grief was too much to bear alone. So he drove back, and journeyed through his grief with his family for awhile. That made a huge difference for him.
It’s been the same for me. I can’t imagine doing this alone. Journeying with family and friends who follow Christ closely has made an enormous difference for me.
I’m sure it was the same for Paul.
I’m sure it will be the same for you.
We live in a time filled with an unprecedented amount of opportunity to occupy ourselves alone. So often we’re alone in front of a screen. And even if we’re sitting next to someone watching, during the entertainment we’re alone in our thoughts. And even if we’re playing a video game with someone, the communication is of a lower quality than when we’re engaged while physically present with each other.
It took me way too long to figure it out, but being physically present and engaged with people who follow Jesus closely is by far the best way to travel through this life.
Available on Google Play Books and on Amazon!
Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)
Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others. Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:
- Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
- How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
- The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
- How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
- How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
- How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
- How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
- How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
- How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.
With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.
A life of loving like Jesus. (Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon and the ebook is now available on Google Play Books.)
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Love.
It took me way too long to figure it out, but being physically present and engaged with people who follow Jesus closely is by far the best way to travel through this life.