2 minute read.
Daily Reading: 1 Chronicles 7:1-8:40 ESV, Acts 27:1-20 ESV, Psalm 7:1-17 ESV, Proverbs 18:22 ESV
Daily Verse: “And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.” (Acts 27:2 ESV)
EPIBAINO (1910): “from 1909 and the base of 939; to walk upon, i.e., mount, ascend, embark, arrive: as a verb means “sitting upon.”[i]
Walk upon.
Life’s journey requires moving forward and walking upon God’s path for you. Created to love God and others, we all have a particular purpose. The people God surrounds you with represent those He wants you to love, even the mean, nasty ones. Loving happens in many ways, sometimes from afar, sometimes up close and personal.
Paul walked upon a ship to continue his missionary journey. Sometimes, God calls us to walk across the room to begin ours. Because of his love for people, Paul endured hardship to share the good news of Christ. Laying aside his pride, Paul humbled himself for the sake of others, just like Jesus.
Keep moving.
Often, we get stuck on the journey. A moment happens in our life, changing it forever, leading us on a path we thought we would never take, and we get stuck in it. Instead of moving through the event, we lavish in it.
When my father died, I got stuck in the moment for three decades. Carrying a chip on my shoulder, I felt like God, and the world owed me for what they did to me, taking my dad away. Then one night, my husband lovingly showed me the chip, and for the first time in over thirty years, I began to move forward from my dad’s death.
On the other hand, we can get stuck in the good moments. One of the life-changing events for me happened when I met my husband. Married ten years in August of 2022, we’ve shared many moments since then, but it still ranks as one of the top five. We can’t stay in those minutes; we must keep moving forward; life doesn’t give us a choice.
Appreciating life means living in the current moment, good or bad; both will pass. Whether we want to or not, we must take the next step. Each day, we embark further along the path as we pursue God passionately, trusting His plan, even if we don’t understand it.
[i] Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 95) Thomas Nelson
