Waist Deep 2018 - October 3


Acts 20: 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again.  Then they accompanied him to the ship. (NIV)


Christianity is not a religion of stoical apathy, but of sanctified human affections.*


In order to inspire friendship of the depth depicted here, Paul had to have given much of himself to the people he ministered to. How emotionally draining this must have been as he traveled and allowed himself to care about the people. Surely it would have been easier for Paul to build an emotional wall to protect himself from the pain of caring too much. He could have continued to preach and to minister without so much risk to his own feelings. But Paul was just following the example set by our Lord. In Matthew 14: 14, we are told that Jesus saw the crowd and “he had compassion on them.” As Max Lucado describes it, Matthew “is not saying that Jesus felt casual pity for them. No, the term is far more graphic. . . . Jesus felt their hurt in his gut.”*

If we are going to try to be like Jesus, then we must be less concerned with protecting ourselves from the pain that comes with caring about other people. We can go through the motions of the Christian life and even be effective, but until we love like Jesus loved, we will never have the abundant life he offers.


The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers . . . of love is Hell.*


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