Gleanings – Misplaced Priorities

Proper 12, Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Acts 16:16-24

“But Paul was annoyed.”

Who could blame Paul? I’m sure it is annoying to have a possessed slave girl following you around. Then again she was like a walking billboard. She proclaimed truth, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

What is really annoying is being rejected for delivering someone from possession. Or more to the point how annoying is it to have others place profit over liberation. The most annoying is to be tempted personally in that way.

Years ago I was part of a not for profit that struggled with this issue. The principal player was being called to a direction (both moral and noble) in life that would cost the organization much of its annual support. The temptation was to bind the man when the right word was “freedom in Christ.” In the end freedom was pursued and God replaced any giving that was lost.

How great would the world be if gain never trumped anything!