The Usual

Scripture:

"Paul went to their meeting place, as he usually did when he came to a town, and for three Sabbaths running he preached to them from the Scriptures." Acts 17:2 (The Message)

NASB says "and according to Paul's custom..."

Observation:

"and according to Paul's custom", this seemingly insignificant comment made at the beginning of this verse really challenged me. When Paul would come to a town, he would find the meeting place of the people, go there, and preach, thats just what he did, this is what people could expect him to do. In chapter 14 it mentions Paul doing this very thing, going to a city, finding the meeting place and preaching. However in vs. 19 it says that Paul was stoned, dragged out of the city, supposing him to be dead. So what does he do next? Go home and live in fear? Nope, he goes to the next city and the next city and the next city, doing what he usually did, what was according to his custom...preaching the gospel.

Application:

Reading about Paul's life through out the scriptures I can see why people would say that it was usual for him to go to a city and preach, because he did it ALL the time. He was consistent and didn't live according to fear, or his emotions, or circumstance. Whether people wanted to worship him as a god, stone him, or receive the message of Christ, the gospel was always preached. The reason this challenged me so much is because it forces me to look at my life and see what are things that I do..according to my custom? What are people's expectations of me because of the way I live my life? Paul's consistency and custom may have brought him a little bit of recognition, but in the end it was a great testimony to the power of the Holy Spirit moving in some ones life. Paul always made sure to glorify God in all that he did and I really do hope that the things that I do, day in and day out, the usual things, would not be about managing people's perception of me, but rather would make it so obvious to others how great our God is.

Prayer:

Lord I pray that I would live in such a way that the "usuals" in my life would begin to change. The fact that I "usually get stressed out when I have to preach" would turn in to "I usually love to preach and with boldness", or "I usually care too much about what other people think about me" would turn in to "I usually don't get affected by what other people have to say about me". Help me to change so that my life and "my customs" would draw people to you.