The beloved physician Luke wrote how Paul and the men with him, “sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him”, and in chapter twenty and verse eleven of the book of Acts Luke shared after Eutychus was alive again, Paul was, “come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while” where we read:
When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten,
and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.
The verse begins, “When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, ...” Luke began with the words, “when he therefore” which means “at the time and moment he, Paul, then, wherefore and on this account” “was come up again” or “ascended to the upper room another time”, “and had broken bread” which means “and broke bread in Communion, the Lord's supper or the Eucharist”, “and eaten” or “and consumed and devoured the bread”. Luke shared how “Paul” went back up to the upper room, ate and had “Communion” with the fellow believers there.
The verse goes on to say, “... and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.” Luke continued with the words, “and talked for a long while” which means “and conversed with the disciples for a sufficient and worthy amount of time”, “even till break of day” or “until dawn of the morning”, “so he departed” which means “thus he, Paul, left and went forth from the fellow disciples”. Luke shared how “Paul” continued talking to the fellow disciples in the upper room until dawn and afterward left them.
When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we learn how “Paul” went back to the upper room, ate in the “love feast” and broke the bread of “Communion” with the fellow believers and continued speaking to them until dawn. We might have thought “Paul” said everything he could have when he preached till midnight, however, there was more to share with the believers there. “Paul” left the believers after this, and we can only imagine the impact his teaching and the miracle performed on “Eutychus” had upon the disciples there. God's desire is to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and He wants to relate to them continually. The words spoken about God and His Son Jesus are worthy of being shared all night long, and those who fully commit to Him will enjoy every moment in which they have opportunity to receive from Him.
Next time Luke shares how, “they brought the young man alive”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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