42 Gather

This particular scripture has stuck with me for quite some time. Found in Acts 14:19 -20

“Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.”

Ok friends, we are walking in a time where the true gospel message needs to be preached without ceasing. But something that I always found myself questioning, is if my faith is strong enough to endure the physical persecution that the disciples did. I mean, no one wants to get beaten. And here we see that the crowd beat him so bad they thought he was dead. Ugh. But that wasn’t the end of the scene...

The next sentence really stopped me: “...But AFTER THE DISCIPLES GATHERED AROUND HIM, HE GOT BACK UP...” Now, we don’t actually know what the disciples did when they gathered around Paul-perhaps they offered medical aid, perhaps they prayed for healing or all of the above. But I think it is very important to note that they GATHERED AROUND HIM. They didn’t turn on him, they didn’t leave him for dead....they gathered.

We can all agree that opinions are coming at all angles. The more we watch the news, the more we are on social media, the more we read the articles, division is trying to take over and it is being fed to us by those who do not care about you or me. Christians are bashing Christians; Friends are Unfriending; Families are turning their backs; Neighbors are turning in neighbors....and it seems so many are quick to pick up a stone and throw it at another just because the world is providing the stones.

Can you imagine how different it would be if we gathered around those beaten and broken? Instead of being one of the stone throwers-be one of the gatherers. It was AFTER the disciples gathered that Paul was able to get back up. We need each other guys. We can’t be throwing stones and accusing and pointing fingers. We need to gather. We need to love. We need to be the ones who help people back up-whether they agree with our personal opinions or not. I truly believe, THIS is what the real ChristIan love looks like.