Entering Thurston County, Washington. Going over the Nisqually River.
Thursday, 5 October 2023
“Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. Acts 20:34
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The words are out of their original order and should read, “And you yourselves know that to my needs, and to those being with me, these hands ministered” (CG).
Paul just noted that he had coveted no one’s silver, gold, or apparel. He now goes further, beginning with, “And you yourselves know that to my needs.”
He is stating, right in front of those that he lived and served with, that his own needs were met in a particular way that will be noted in a minute. In starting with a statement about his own needs, he is ensuring that what will follow in his statement did not interfere with his needs, nor were his needs met in some other way than how he will indicate. Next, he says, “and to those being with me.”
Paul uses a present participle to indicate the ongoing nature of what he is referring to. Thus, it would be inclusive of even the present time while speaking to these men. He is, in fact, doing for them what he will next state, even at the present time. It is these words concerning the needs of those with him that explain why he started with his own needs. Both to his needs and to those who were there with him, he says, “these hands ministered.”
It could have been that Paul came to Ephesus and ministered to others but let others tend to his needs. This is how most churches are set up today. The pastor does his thing while the church tends to the pastor. Paul excluded himself from such a notion, noting first and foremost that he had tended to his own needs, but he had not done so at the expense of others.
Anytime that someone was in need, as evidenced by the present tense, he was there ministering to that person. If his words weren’t true, Paul could neither have said it to the Ephesians nor could Luke have recorded it for them to read. It would have been shown false as soon as it was published.
And the fact that Paul was counseling them and encouraging them at this time meant that he was still ministering to them. He could have just sent a letter from Jerusalem, but he purposely stopped at Miletus to minister one last time to his beloved disciples.
Life application: Paul’s words concerning his work show the truth of his faith in the gospel he preached. Nobody in their right mind would conduct themselves in this way unless he was convinced that the message he was relaying was the truth.
Instead, he would have accepted the gold, silver, and clothes offered to him and lived like Creflo Dollar. For a succinct statement of one’s labors, the words of Paul show special devotion to the work set before him. This is not unlike Jacob –
“Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban: ‘What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me? 37 Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both! 38 These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. 39 That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. 41 Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 42 Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.’” Genesis 31:36-42
Jacob served for his wives and his flocks. Paul served for the bride of Christ and the flock of His church. Both of them did so tirelessly. Labor, when rightly placed in the hours of one’s life, is a blessing. Solomon reflected on that and wrote these words to consider –
“What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
12 I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.” Ecclesiastes 3:9-13
Be sure to conduct your labors honorably and with a sense of enjoyment. They take up the majority of the time of your existence, so find satisfaction in them because they are the gift of God to you.
Lord God, we all have chores and responsibilities. Help us to do them to Your glory. May our attitudes toward our work and those we work for be positive and pleasing in Your sight. Thank You for the labor of our hands, O God. Amen.