I long to have the kind of commitment Paul shows in this passage. He says he is ready to be be bound and to die in Jerusalem if that is what God asks of him. I guess we never know if we have that kind of commitment until we’re challenged. That’s the kind of commitment that sharpens our faith. I sometimes wonder if we can ever get that kind of commitment in a country where persecution is so lax. I remember a quote I read a couple of years ago from a Chinese house church leader. Someone told him that Americans were praying that the persecution would lighten. He told the guy not to pray for that. He said that’s why the Church is growing. If I remember right (and I might not), he said that he prays that others would enjoy the same persecution so the Church will grow elsewhere as well.
On a completely different note, I’m a little struck by the few lines early on in the passage that says “They (I guess the disciples at Tyre) said to Paul through the Spirit…” How do other speak to us through the Spirit? We usually say it the other way: “The Holy Spirit spoke through so and so…” I guess I’ll think through that today.
