Should Have Listened to Paul

"‘But the Centurion instead of listening to what Paul said followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.’ ‘Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and water there.’" Acts 27:11

There is a lot of very interesting information here. Paul will get his "I told you so" moment during the shipwreck. I also wish I had listened to Paul a few more time in my life. Hey, they took a vote. This is democracy at work, majority rules. I don’t know who voted. There were 276 people on board. The captain thinks he can make it; the owner has cargo to push through, and passengers to please. I doubt the prisoners got a vote, but Julius decides he and his men and the prisoners are staying on board. The majority throughout history has more often than not been wrong. In addition, so have despots. I am not trying to make a point, it is interesting though how we make decisions in group situations. I am sure Julius doesn’t want to hang out for the winter with prisoners, right? (By the way, I hear a lot of folks still spend their winters in Phoenix, we call them "snowbirds", haha!) Whether the decision is made subjectively, objectively or democratically the decision is to sail on. We should not over-analyze what we would have, should have, or could have done. By the end of the voyage, Paul is way more interested in the message of Christ than being right again. So my advice today is threefold.

1) Certainly listen to Paul.
2) Trust the Lord in all things.
3) It isn’t that important to be right.

Sail on everyone, the destination really is the voyage itself.

In His Grip,
Pastor Fred

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