Have you been recommended before?
Acts 14:26 - And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
I have been recommended to different jobs, and opportunities in my life but the recommending we read about here in the verse above is far more radical than anything any of those experiences ever called for. Let’s look at this verse for a moment.
Paul and Barnabas just finished a missionary journey and here they are heading back to the church that sent them out in chapter 13.
I thought it was interesting to see that word “recommended” in verse 26.
If you look the word up you will find it means - to surrender, to yield, to intrust, commit, deliver, give up, hazard, or put in prison.
This calling/recommending was a call to surrender their lives. It was a call to yield their will to God’s will. It was a call that was entrusted/assigned to them. This call was committed to them. They were delivered by the church through the Holy Spirit for this specific journey. They were called upon to hazard their lives. Lastly, and I do think it is very interesting that the word would include the phrase “put in prison,” seeing that this is exactly what would happen to Paul.
It was all just part of the job description. Paul’s call was a call of “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Have we surrendered to God in this manner? It is a TOTAL surrender. Paul’s life was not his own anymore and it is evident by the surrender he made to God. I ask you to do inventory today and see if this is the kind of surrender you made of your life to God.
Have you yielded your will to His? Have you committed your life to Him? Have you given up your will for what God created you to do? Are you willing to hazard your life for the cause of Christ? If not do so today - His will is better than yours. His promises joy and fulfillment yours is a delusional life.