Acts 20

The Explanation

Paul was traveling again, visiting friends who believed in Jesus. He came to a town called Troas and stayed seven days. On the last night, everyone gathered in an upstairs room to eat together and listen to Paul teach. He talked and talked, because he was leaving the next day and had so much to say. Midnight came, and he was still talking.

A young man named Eutychus sat in the window. He grew sleepier and sleepier. Paul kept speaking, and Eutychus fell asleep so deeply that he toppled right out of the window. He fell three floors down. When people ran to him, he was dead.

Can you imagine the fright in that room? Everyone must have gasped. But Paul went down, bent over the boy, and wrapped his arms around him. "Don't be troubled," he said, "for his life is in him." Then Paul went back upstairs, ate, and kept talking until morning. When they carried the boy home, he was alive. What relief they must have felt.

After that, Paul traveled on by ship, stopping at island after island, hurrying toward Jerusalem. On the way, he called for the leaders of the church in Ephesus to meet him. He wanted to say goodbye, because he believed he would never see them again.

Paul told them honestly how he had served God, with tears and hard trials. He said the Holy Spirit warned him that chains and troubles waited for him in Jerusalem. But Paul was not afraid. "I don't hold my life dear to myself," he said, "so that I may finish my race with joy." He wanted to finish the work Jesus gave him, no matter the cost.

Then Paul warned them like a shepherd warning his sheep. "Fierce wolves will come," he said, "not sparing the flock." Some would even rise up from among themselves, speaking twisted things to pull people away. So Paul told them to watch carefully and remember how he had warned them, night and day, with tears, for three whole years.

Before he left, Paul knelt down with all of them and prayed. They wept and hugged him and kissed him, sad most of all because they would never see his face again. Then they walked with him all the way to the ship.

What Does This Mean?

Paul was not afraid of danger, because he cared more about finishing the work God gave him than about staying safe. He loved the people so much that he wept for them and warned them, even when it was hard to hear. Real love sometimes sounds like a warning, not just a hug.

The Common Thread

Paul said Jesus himself taught, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Paul gave his whole life for Jesus and for others, just like Jesus gave his life for us. Paul was not the hero of this story. Jesus was the one Paul pointed to, the whole time.

For You

You can give something away this week, even something small like a toy or your time, and remember it is more blessed to give than to receive. You can also tell a friend the truth kindly, even when it is hard, because that is what real love does.

Talk About It

Why do you think Paul kept teaching even until midnight, even when people were sleepy?

Can you think of a time it was hard to tell someone the truth, but it was the loving thing to do?

Praying Together

Dear God, thank you for Paul, who loved people enough to warn them and to keep going even when it was hard. Help me to give instead of always wanting to receive. Teach me to tell the truth with love, like Paul did. In Jesus' name, amen.