Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Empowered by the Risen Lord

Ann Koshy
St. John’s MTC NY

9 A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead.
 

How many of us are wrapped up in our daily lives, yet make time for God? We go to our youth meetings, Sunday services and prayer meetings but how many of us are alert and focused. In the beginning we are excited, 15 minutes into the meeting we may be day dreaming, and 30 minutes later we may be sound asleep like Eutychus. To give a little background the setting for Acts 20:7-12 is in Troas. It is an evening service, since Troas has many disciples who are slaves and cannot meet during the day. It also happens to be the last time these disciples will hear Paul, the visiting preacher, since he plans to leave in the morning; because of this, the text says, "he continued speaking until midnight."
This is relatable to our daily lives. We become tired from classes, work, or even both. Then we try to pay attention to a preacher. Our bodies are tired but the spirit is willing. We go about our daily lives and then Sunday comes along and we are sitting in a pew listening to a sermon and thinking about what the week has to offer or what will we have for lunch. We are so focused on daily lives we forget who’s in control. When everyone thought that Eutychus was dead, God proved them wrong. God knows what each one of our future holds. We keep constantly trying to figure  out on our own but what we should do is turn to Him. We should try to seek empowerment from God to not fall asleep but wake ourselves and go on our spiritual journey.

PRAYER

Father God, give us the strength and the courage we need to continue on our spiritual journey. Father God we are tired and weak but we know You are able to work in us. We thank You for continuously blessing us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
"Light a fire on the inside. You have the seed of Almighty God. Don’t allow something small to keep you from God’s best "~ Anonymous 

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