Wednesday, May 13: Acts 21- The body of Christ is a precious gift from God .

It was a small detail in the account of Paul’s travels that caught hold of my heart and thoughts this morning, and so I pondered… we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. … We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day (Acts 213-4, 7).

Paul lands in 2 cities, Tyre and Ptolemais. Tyre is mentioned in the OT and Gospels and Acts 12 but Ptolemais is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. But never does the Bible mention any disciples of Jesus going to these cities, so how did people of the faith get to these cities? The account mentions that Paul sought out the disciples and stayed with them.

This small detail reminded me that God was doing much more during the days of Acts than is recorded in the book. Acts basically follows Peter and then Paul, but early on the church of Jerusalem was scattered and each began to witness to Jesus wherever they went. Maybe one of those unnamed disciples shared Jesus and as a result planted God’s church in Tyre or Ptolemais. Maybe someone who heard the teaching of Jesus brought it to Tyre.  We know Jesus went to the area of Tyre and Sidon himself and performed at least one miracle there (Mark 7:24-30).

What hit me is that God was working in and through many more people and in many other cities, countries and lands than we read in Acts.

The work of God is BIGGER than I know because the work of God happens as regular believers witness to their faith where they live and travel.  This continues to be true to this very day.

The extension of God’s kingdom is happening through many people –a few big names, but mostly unamed people living faithfully for Jesus.

Gathering with sisters and brothers is a precious gift of God, even when we have never met them before. There is a connection between true followers of Jesus that goes beyond years of knowing one another.  The Holy Spirit provides this bond. I have found this to be true in my travels. The body of Christ is a precious gift from God.

Lord, thank you for my calling to extend Your Gospel to the ends of the earth and the church You have given us. Bless You, Lord, for our calling and Your body. Halleluiah! Amen.