Acts Devotional Week 11

Acts: Shaking Off the Dust

July 15, 2012

Acts 18:4-11

Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike.  And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.  But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.”  Then he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue.  Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized.  One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent!  For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.”  So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.

What drove Paul?  His trade is tentmaking or leatherworking (Acts 18:1-4).  Yet he stops this when Silas and Timothy arrive.  Their financial support empowers Paul to focus on sharing the Word of God.  This was his passion, but did it drive him?  He shared God’s Word with the Jews in the synagogue every Sabbath, yet they did not listen.  They continued to refuse Jesus as the Messiah.

Paul’s response to this refusal is to shake the dust from his clothes.  This symbolizes a cleaning out, removal from, or separation from.  Interestingly, Paul doesn’t see their opposition to God’s Word as an attack against him.  Instead, he views their rejection of Christ as opposition against themselves.  Their refusal to take God’s Word seriously is harmful to themselves first and foremost.  By shaking the dust from his clothes Paul leaves the fate of those who refuse to listen in their hands and walks away.

Walking away may seem harsh, but Paul was driven to make disciples and that work was happening among the Gentiles.  Paul walked away from those who refused God and walked toward those searching for God.  Sometimes there are things a people we need to walk away from in order to do God’s work.  Paul’s refocused attention led to many being baptized.  Perhaps walking away from some things will open us up to a greater work of the Lord.  In the end, Paul received a message of assurance from the Lord.  God encouraged Paul.  God protected Paul.  God still works this way in us. Let us follow Him.