Everyone on the Mission Team Growing Together and Individually
18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. 19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
Acts 18:18–19 ESV Read More
Leaving Some Behind and Taking Others
When Paul is done in Athens, he does something that was also a part of his pattern. He leaves the growing church behind and takes a few people along with him. If you watch him closely, Paul rarely goes anywhere alone. Even when he is alone in a jail, he calls for people to come visit him and they do regularly.
Priscilla and Aquila go with him on the boat to Syria. Remember they met Paul over a year ago and they were Jews exiled from Italy, living in Corinth. Now they are partners in the Gospel and sail with Paul to Ephesus. They will go on to be some really foundational people in the Church. They were Italian Jews that were driven from their homes and that exile is what brought them face to face with the Gospel. Romans 8:28 (God works all things to the good of those that believe in Him) was playing out in their lives and they were rolling with it.
And Growing on Your Own
There is one line in there that is easy to read over. “At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.” That means he shaved his head as part of a Nazirite vow. In Numbers 6 there are steps described as taking a time dedicated to the Lord to fast and pray, and part of it involves shaving your head. It’s like if you shaved your head on Ash Wednesday and just let it grow out of control while you fasted from certain foods and then got a haircut on Easter.
The exciting thing here is that Paul himself is caring for his own spiritual growth. He is doing things on his own to grow in the knowledge and faith in the Lord Jesus. We don’t know what he was fasting about, but he will also lead other men in this same vow process a few years later.
It is so easy to serve others and do activities and show up for events, but all of that is better and real when it flows out of our own growth in Christ. Shave your head, fast over a lunch break, whatever, but take some time between yourself and the Lord to just grow together.
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