Passage of the Day - January 22, 2011

Acts 20:33-38

³³"I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes.

 ³⁴"You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me.

 ³⁵"In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

 ³⁶When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

 ³⁷And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him,

 ³⁸grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again And they were accompanying him to the ship.

Paul was able to avoid being accused of being a charlatan by not asking for a dime from the Ephesians.  Would it have been wrong to ask for money?  No.  However, he assured his reputation by not asking for it.  There are many things in this world and choices that we make that are not sinful, but can rightly or wrongly damage our reputation.  We must continually be mindful of how our choices are perceived and what kind of a picture of Christ our choices paint in the minds of others.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)