<\/p>\n
Acts 27:1-44<\/strong><\/span> Today in Acts 27 verses 1 & 2 we read: \u201cWhen the time came, we set sail for Italy. Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of an army officer named Julius, a captain of the Imperial Regiment. And Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us. We left on a boat whose home port was Adramyttium; it was scheduled to make several stops at ports along the coast of the province of Asia.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>A great map of Paul\u2019s journey to Rome is below:<\/span><\/p>\n In verses 10 & 11 Paul\u2019s wise advice about the storm is not heeded: \u201c\u201dSirs,\u201d he said, \u201cI believe there is trouble ahead if we go on\u2013shipwreck, loss of cargo, injuries, and danger to our lives.\u201d But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship\u2019s captain and the owner than to Paul.\u201d <\/em>I wonder about this in our lives today \u2013 are we like the officer in charge of the prisoners and ignoring Paul\u2019s advice?\u00a0 Do we hear Paul\u2019s advice to us in his Epistles, and yet are we ignoring it?\u00a0 Are we instead paying attention to the ship\u2019s captain, or the world, rather than Paul, when a storm is indeed bearing down upon us?<\/span><\/p>\n In stark contrast to Saul in our First Chronicles readings, I love seeing Paul\u2019s leadership in action in today\u2019s readings in Acts 27!\u00a0 He shows big-time leadership through his encouragement in verse 22: \u201cBut take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 And then Paul also shows some leadership in a very simple thing, namely eating, in verses 33 & 34: \u201cAs the darkness gave way to the early morning light, Paul begged everyone to eat. \u201cYou haven\u2019t touched food for two weeks,\u201d he said. \u201cPlease eat something now for your own good.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The best demonstration though of Paul\u2019s leadership I think was when he did what reminded me of his Savior\u2019s Last Supper in verse 35\u2026\u00a0 \u201cThen he took some bread, gave thanks to God before them all, and broke off a piece and ate it.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Does this action of Paul\u2019s remind you of anyone else you might know?<\/span><\/p>\n Julius, the centurion, shows some amazing respect for Paul in the last 3 verses of today\u2019s readings! \u201cThe soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure they didn\u2019t swim ashore and escape. But the commanding officer wanted to spare Paul, so he didn\u2019t let them carry out their plan. Then he ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and make for land, and he told the others to try for it on planks and debris from the broken ship. So everyone escaped safely ashore!\u201d <\/em>Below is the 19th century woodcut artist Gustave Dore\u2019s take on this very last sentence:<\/span><\/p>\n And then it looks like the island of Malta, where Paul and the ship\u2019s passengers were shipwrecked, decided to create a stamp that looks quite a bit like Gustave Dore\u2019s artwork above\u2026 \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n Bible.org\u2019s commentary on today\u2019s Acts readings titled \u201cA Biblical Look at Leadership\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Worship Video:<\/strong> Today\u2019s readings in Acts 27 remind me of Laura Story\u2019s song \u201cBlessings:\u201d<\/span>
~ Click here to read today\u2019s Scripture on Bible Gateway ~<\/span><\/em>
~ Listen to today\u2019s Scripture with <\/em>The ESV Bible<\/em><\/span> ~<\/p>\n