For the past several months I have been studying through the Gospels and Acts with a primary purpose of understanding better what a disciple of Jesus Christ looks like.   What would it have been like to walk the roads of Galilee and Judea with Jesus, watching, listening and learning as he announced the good news of God’s kingdom?   I wanted to take a “long, slow walk” with Jesus and learn as the apostles did.  And so I began, using Dr. Dwight Pentecost’s Words and Works of Jesus Christ — a harmony of the gospels — as a guidebook through the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth.

I wrote lots of notes, something that I hadn’t done routinely in my Bible study, and drew lots of maps tracing the course of Jesus’s travels.  (I learned years ago that understanding geography is the key to understanding history.)  Handwriting notes and drawing maps while practicing the basic principles of Observation, Interpretation, Corelation, and Application forced me into a slow daily rhythm that was like eating a delicious meal every morning, enjoying its satisfaction throughout the day.  As desired, the “long, slow walk” allowed me to see things that I had overlooked through familiarity or inattentiveness.  I know that there is so much more that I haven’t yet seen or learned, but am enjoying the joy of the journey and look forward to the next trip.

I didn’t want the experience to stop when I completed the Gospels, so I continued the walk into Acts to round out the history of the early Church.  Again, lots of notes and maps, particularly of Paul’s travels.  I was rivetted, for instance, by tracing the course of Paul’s voyage from Caesarea to Rome in Acts 27-28, marking the calm trust of Paul in the midst of prolonged, terrifying circumstances that resulted in shipwreck.

While I working my way through Acts, Norma and I have been preparing for a short-term missions trip to central South America.   Reading through Acts has been like going through a short-term missions handbook.  Two stories have been a particular focus as I have prayed for the trip:  God’s prior preparation of the hearts of Cornelius and Peter (Acts 10) and the providential blocking and directing of Paul from Asia to Macedonia and the “coincidental” prayers of Lydia and her friends in Philippi (Acts 16:6-15).  We are praying for God to already be raising up Corneliuses and Lydias to hear and receive the gospel as we travel among remote villages.  Would you join us in praying for the same?

“As you are going, make disciples …,” Jesus instructs.  Pray that God will raise up Corneliuses in preparation for your coming and give you the grace to relax when your “travel plans” are blocked, in part, to fulfill the prayers of Lydias who desire to know the salvation of the Lord.  Readiness with the good news and faithfulness to the opportunity are the “carry-ons” we need when God’s sovereignty meets our responsibility.   Have a good trip.