Day 264: Acts 18:19–23

He himself entered the synagogue and engaged in discussion with the Jews. And though they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined (vv. 19–20).

When Paul completed his long stay in Corinth, he sailed for Syria, accompanied by a couple he had met and stayed with in Corinth—Priscilla and Aquila. (Their names sound good together, don’t they?) Once again the apostle to the Gentiles made a beeline to the synagogue to reason with the Jews, but in Ephesus he found a different reception. The Jews at the synagogue asked him to spend a while with them. This time, however, Paul declined. He went on with his journey to Antioch, leaving Priscilla and Aquila behind.

Do you find Paul’s return to the synagogue interesting? Recall his last experience with the Jews in the synagogue of Corinth. He became so frustrated with them, “he shook out his clothes and told them, ‘Your blood is on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles’” (Acts 18:6 hcsb). I thought he had finished preaching to the Jews altogether. But in Ephesus he went right back to the synagogue and reasoned with them again. Paul’s ministry was far more productive among the Gentiles, so why did he continue to return to the Jews in virtually every city he visited?

In Romans 9:2–5, Paul answered this question. He so desperately wanted his fellow Jews to know Christ that, if possible, he would have died for them. He could hardly bear for the Jews to miss Christ. He must have been ecstatic over the favorable response of the Jews at the synagogue in Ephesus, but again we see why Paul was such an effective minister and servant. He had surrendered his life to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. He was not driven by his own desires and rationalizations. In his position, I might have convinced myself I was supposed to remain in Ephesus, at least for a while, based on my own desires to see God do a work among a people I loved and an apparent open door. They were begging for more! Yet Acts 18:20 tells us he declined. Paul firmly and lovingly said no.

I have a difficult time saying no. Do you? Paul probably had a difficult time, too, but he was careful to remain focused on God’s priorities for him. Paul’s example teaches us a timely lesson. The fact that a need exists does not mean God has called me to meet that need. We are wise to trust Him when He seems to be leading us contrary to those things we want to do or those things that seem to be so rational and fitting.