Akolytos

God has been working on me lately ... a LOT!!! For the first time in a long time, I can truly say I am walking with God ... DAILY ... okay, almost daily. I am still not as good as I would like to be about Bible Study, but I am getting better. I am still not as good as I would like to be with prayer time, but I am getting better. I have struggled with "happiness". Questions that take place in my head go something like this: "I am a Christian. Christians are supposed to be happy. Christians are supposed to be different. Christians are supposed to be content. Christians are supposed to be joyful. Christians are supposed to act in a way that draws others to Christ. Why am I not happy, different, content or joyful? Why am I not drawing others to Christ?" Then I start pointing fingers: "Paul was in prison, Paul was beaten, Paul was stoned, Paul was shipwrecked, Paul was flogged, Paul had an infliction that was not ever relieved. PAUL . COULD . NOT . HAVE . BEEN . HAPPY!!!!!!" Paul never said he was happy. Paul said he was joyful. Does anyone really think Paul sat in prison and sang songs letting others know there was no where else he would rather be than in prison? Of course not. No one WANTS to be in prison. Was he "happy"? Probably not. Was he joyful? Absolutely!!! So what is the difference? I may never be happy. I am always looking for something. I am always looking for a better job. I am always looking for better friends. I am always looking for a better church. (Okay, maybe not, since my husband is on staff at a local church!) I am always looking for better outward circumstances. But joy - it comes from inside. "Happy" is from the influence of outer events and circumstances. Joy is void of any events or circumstances. Joy is from within. Joy stems from the peace that passes understanding, but it has to be more than that. So this brings me to akōlytōs, which is prounounced ah-ko-lu-tos with the emphasis on lu, only appears one time in the Bible. It is the last verse, the last word of Acts. Acts 28:31 to be exact. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance! NIV Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered. NASB After having a fight and splitting ways with his co-preachers, after a ship wreck, after floggings, after criticism, after prison, after all that Paul had been through Paul was unhindered. I find it interesting that the man that wrote the largest part of the New Testament, much of which was done while he was in prison and in chains, proclaimed the gospel unhindered. There are so many things (and people) that can hinder us. In fact some have already quit reading this because they are hindered by time constraints. What would it mean to live life unhindered? I don't know. That is what I hope to find. I hope you will pray for me, as I will pray for you, that you will discover the meaning of akōlytōs. Until next time may you live life unhindered.