Acts 20:7-12
7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. 9 And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. 10 But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, “Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.” 11 When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. 12 They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.
In trying to imagine this scene in my head, I cannot help but to laugh at the irony of what happened and Luke’s nonchalant approach to describing it. Maybe something is lost in the translation or Luke is trying to give a detailed account without injecting his emotions into the story. Maybe if one of us wrote this it would go something like this:
“So, we were going to leave the next day and everyone wanted more of God’s Word. We assembled in the upper room of this guy’s house and Paul talked for hours! In fact, he talked so much that this kid sitting in the window fell asleep and fell out to his death. Paul wasn’t worried though, he ran downstairs and even though he had stopped breathing, he said, ‘the kid’s gonna be alright, he’s still got some life in him,’ and then went back to preaching like nothing happened! I can’t believe Paul taught all day and night without stopping.”
We’ve talked about the culture of Jesus and getting used to living in the Kingdom of God. Here is another clear example of how things happen when we aren’t living by this world, but by God’s reality. Quite honestly, I can’t tell you what is the “bigger” miracle: the boy surviving a 3 story fall, Paul preaching for a straight 24 hours, or the desire of the people to hear more and more of God’s Word. We can barely sit still for a 40-minute sermon! This is what happens when we reorganize our priority list of our lives and put God first. It isn’t an act of irresponsibility; instead it is maximizing your time with God to learn more about Him and grow spiritually in Him. We schedule our calendars and daily schedules around football games, birthday parties, date nights, work projects, and a whole slew of other things…how much do we do that for our time with God?
One of the most difficult topics to fully grasp in our current worldly thinking is the day of Sabbath. Our busy lives are packed with stuff to do that we very rarely take time to stop. We don’t dedicate time to God on a regular basis. Work, family, household chores, and much more take importance over God. We rationalize that God doesn’t need us to spend time with Him. No, He doesn’t need anything from us but like any loving parent, He wants that time from us. Furthermore, God might not need us but we need Him! In Matthew 6, Jesus is talking about the love of money and the danger behind it when He says:
24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.
Who then is our master? Our job? Our family? Our lawn work? We give so much importance to the creation and the world around us that we completely neglect the One who put it all there! Even He took a day off to enjoy creation. One thing we will realize once we start working towards having a regular Sabbath and time off to simply enjoy time with God and the loved ones He has put in our life is how much of a hold these other things have on us. Like our Celebrate Recovery pastor says in regards to people who claim they do not have a drinking problem, “If it’s not a problem, then just simply don’t take the next drink.” If we don’t have a problem with working too much, then simply stop and watch how easy it is to let go…
Paul, along with those listening to his teaching, understood the importance of focusing on God wholeheartedly. Paul didn’t say, “Hey guys, I gotta go pack and get to bed because we have a long journey ahead of us.” The people in the upper room didn’t say, “Umm, this has been fun but I have to go finish this project I was working on.” Nobody said, “Hey, that kid just died! I’m glad he’s alright but maybe we should quit for the night since everyone’s getting tired to the point of death.” No, they saw an opportunity to grow closer to God and they took it. They didn’t complain about rearranging their schedules or their jobs or painting the house. They prioritized their lives around being filled with the Word of Truth so they could take it to their job, their house, and their family and friends. They took an entire day resting in God’s providence, hearing His Word, and enjoying communion with likeminded believers. They paused to be filled and refreshed while they had the opportunity. What do we do? We put it on the “to do” list that never gets accomplished.
How long will it take before you put God first in your life? When will you decide it is time to finally give God the time He deserves, you know, for creating everything and making sure you are breathing today?
