Now we begin the reading of the details of Paul's third missionary journey. This time, he will spend much of his time in the city of Ephesus (about two years). Many of the cities that we read about Paul visiting and starting churches in bear some of the names of the letters that Paul wrote that later became other New Testament books in our bible. The church of the Ephesians is one of those letters. As Paul made many lasting relationships with the Christians in Ephesus, many people became Christians as a result. The people of Ephesus worshipped the pagan goddess Diana (or also known as Artemis) who was the goddess of fertility. Paul utilized these pagan temples as places for public preaching the Gospel.
After making his way through Macedonia and Greece, Paul turned toward Jerusalem to return with an offering from the Asian churches. Along the way, he made several stops and several of the churches urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem for they were told in their prophecies that if Paul did go, it would be the last time they would see him. Paul went on against their urging for he felt strongly that God was sending him to Jerusalem.
Upon his arrival in Jerusalem, some Ephesian Jews who witnessed Paul preaching in Ephesus, gathered a riot to beat up Paul. An uproar ensued and caused the roman officials to arrest Paul. Upon his arrest, Paul requested to speak to the crowd and they allowed him to do so.
Proverbs 12:15-28
There is one proverb that jumps to my attention from this reading. It is Proverbs 12:25--"Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up." I have always understood the first half of the proverb. Worry is not a major weakness for me. My philosophy has always been, "if I have no control, no worry is needed. If I have control, then do what is in my power for that which I am tempted to worry." But it is the second half of the proverb that jumps to me. "An encouraging word cheers a person up." Why would the writer place these two together? Perhaps if someone you know is worrying, then we should do our part to encourage them and cheer them up. Or else perhaps it is a challenge to do away with the daily worries and replace them with an encouraging word. What do you think? Post your comments.
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