October 16
Last night I met with my once-a-month Circle friends. We talked and ate and talked and had our Bible/Book study and then we ate some more. We talked about being made in the image of God and how we need to respect that in others, even those we don’t necessarily think are worthy of it—they are made in God’s image. We also talked about was the idea of being born into sin, yet the darkness and depth of or sin doesn’t matter to God. He just wants us to come before Him, confess and be repentant.
When I was on the isle of Rhodes, we were told “Paul brought the Gospel here.” It amazes me that Paul coming to Rhodes is a mere mention in scripture, yet he is credited with bringing the Good News to this place.It makes sense that if he was there for more than a day, he would go to the temple and teach and preach.
“After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara.” Acts 21:1
A bleep on the radar for Luke, yet, there is an inlet named “St Paul’s harbor” here because his influence is profound. Tradition says that this is where his ship landed while they were at this place. Obviously, we know nothing about what took place here other than through tradition.
Rhodes must have been an impressive place at the time Paul and his companions were there. The oldest city dates back to 408 BC. The city had been constructed on a hilltop encircled with a wall.
Today, it is a big island with 42 villages. Many tourists visit the medieval city built by the Knights of the Crusade (1309-1522) and later, Mussolini built a palace with the walls. (He was never able to use it), but he made sure the island’s Jewish population of 1,500 were all sent to the concentration camps. Only 15 survived. One is still alive today, living in Italy and still comes to Rhodes to serve in the synagogue during the summer.
Rhodes is a beautiful place, sitting on the Agean fairly close to Crete. About 90-95 percent of the population is Christian and they credit the Apostle Paul. The statues of Diana and other gods can be found among the ruins, but the underlying theme here is definitely Christian.
“The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.”
Acts 21:18-19 NIV
We don’t know for sure that Paul preached and people were saved at Rhodes, but we do know that was his habit. So many times I think about living our Christian life as an “exercise in faith” that when we do that, that part of us becomes so ingrained that it is like muscle memory. We don’t even have to think about it, we just do it.
Lord thank you for today and for helping us to see that our actions become habits and those habits become ingrained in us. Teach us to be habitually exercising our faith. You are a great God and we worship you. How amazing it is that the Gospel was spread to quickly and so perfectly in a time such as that! We don’t understand how you are not limited by time and space, but we are amazed by it all. Help us today to be a little more like you. Amen and amen.
Love you dear one,
Pam
PS. Pictures of Rhodes are on FB.
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