Passage of the Day - February 25, 2011

Acts 27:27-38

²⁷But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to surmise that they were approaching some land.

 ²⁸They took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms.

 ²⁹Fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and wished for daybreak.

 ³⁰But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship's boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow,

 ³¹Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved."

 ³²Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it fall away.

 ³³Until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing.

 ³⁴"Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish."

 ³⁵Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.

 ³⁶All of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food.

 ³⁷All of us in the ship were two hundred and seventy-six persons.

 ³⁸When they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing out the wheat into the sea.

When we take our opportunity to get out of trouble or to payback others, we lose our opportunity to share God’s grace.  Again, Paul could have taken advantage of the situation, but rather he helped his captors.

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/)