What a harrowing experience! Rough seas are no fun in boats that have motors and bilge pumps and are well sealed. Paul was on a wooden vessel, and while it was large for it’s day (holding 276 people), to our eye it would be small. There was no motor, only the wind to drive them – and the wind did drive them! Eventually it drove them aground in a spot where the surf tore the ship apart. The sailors were using all their skills to keep the boat from destruction and the passengers from death, but ultimately it was God’s mercy that got them through.
In verses 21-26, Paul tells the whole ship that he had a vision of an angel who told him they would lose their cargo, but their lives would be spared. The translation of this passage is pretty different between the most common English translations. The New International Version says, “Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me . . . .” The English Standard Version says, “For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, . . . .” The original language has a different emphasis in its wording, “for there stood before me this night from the God of whom I am and whom I serve (but the word has a cultic/worshipful sense to it), an angel.” The English seems to emphasize, “Hey, an angel appeared to me.” Paul’s actual words emphasize, “God sent an angel.” God was intervening on these people’s behalf to save their lives.
Paul’s identification of God is very personal. He is, “the God whose I am,” or, “the God I belong to.” Have you ever thought of God in that way? He is, “the God who owns me.”? This is language that takes us back to God’s calling of Israel, they were to be a people of his own possession. Peter talks like this, too, in 1 Peter 2:9-10: “But you are a chose race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people, . . . .”
It’s a different way of looking at things. Often we think in terms of us choosing to worship. We decide if we will go to church or not. We make up our minds if we will sing, pray, read our Bibles, etc., because often we see ourselves as choosing God as the focus of our worship. Paul’s words indicate he did not choose God, but God chose him. That is our reality too. We belong to Jesus, not because we decided to believe in Him, but because He purchased and won us, “not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.”
If we belong to God, we are not the masters of our own lives. Certainly, God gives us a lot of freedom as we serve Him in this world, and He blesses us with different gifts for service, but ultimately He is the One who sets the course. He is the One whose agenda we seek to fulfill, not our own. In addition, our confidence is in the knowledge that we do belong to Him. He wants us. He will defend us and bring us through this world to our eternal home.
Maybe a good way to start your day today would be to trace a cross with your finger over your head and your heart, and remember, “I belong to God,” and pray, “Thank You, Jesus.”
Father, thank you for claiming me. Thank you for making me part of your possession. Help me to live as your servant and worshipper to declare how good You’ve been to me. Amen.
In verses 21-26, Paul tells the whole ship that he had a vision of an angel who told him they would lose their cargo, but their lives would be spared. The translation of this passage is pretty different between the most common English translations. The New International Version says, “Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me . . . .” The English Standard Version says, “For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, . . . .” The original language has a different emphasis in its wording, “for there stood before me this night from the God of whom I am and whom I serve (but the word has a cultic/worshipful sense to it), an angel.” The English seems to emphasize, “Hey, an angel appeared to me.” Paul’s actual words emphasize, “God sent an angel.” God was intervening on these people’s behalf to save their lives.
Paul’s identification of God is very personal. He is, “the God whose I am,” or, “the God I belong to.” Have you ever thought of God in that way? He is, “the God who owns me.”? This is language that takes us back to God’s calling of Israel, they were to be a people of his own possession. Peter talks like this, too, in 1 Peter 2:9-10: “But you are a chose race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people, . . . .”
It’s a different way of looking at things. Often we think in terms of us choosing to worship. We decide if we will go to church or not. We make up our minds if we will sing, pray, read our Bibles, etc., because often we see ourselves as choosing God as the focus of our worship. Paul’s words indicate he did not choose God, but God chose him. That is our reality too. We belong to Jesus, not because we decided to believe in Him, but because He purchased and won us, “not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.”
If we belong to God, we are not the masters of our own lives. Certainly, God gives us a lot of freedom as we serve Him in this world, and He blesses us with different gifts for service, but ultimately He is the One who sets the course. He is the One whose agenda we seek to fulfill, not our own. In addition, our confidence is in the knowledge that we do belong to Him. He wants us. He will defend us and bring us through this world to our eternal home.
Maybe a good way to start your day today would be to trace a cross with your finger over your head and your heart, and remember, “I belong to God,” and pray, “Thank You, Jesus.”
Father, thank you for claiming me. Thank you for making me part of your possession. Help me to live as your servant and worshipper to declare how good You’ve been to me. Amen.
Comments