PAUL GIVES A DETAILED ACCOUNT
This was a wonderful day in the history of the early church. Paul returned from his third and longest missionary journey to give “a detailed account” to James and the elders in Jerusalem. After hearing the report of how the Gentiles all over Asia Minor and Greece had received the gospel, the elders rejoiced and praised God.
The modern practice of giving a missions report back to the home church is really not modern at all. I suppose the first missions team to report back was the “Seventy-two” sent out by Jesus who “returned with joy” (Luke 10:17). Yet, Paul and his team certainly solidified the practice of bringing back a detailed report to the sending church.
For the last couple of years we haven’t sent out short-term mission teams due to COVID travel restrictions. But we have many long-term partners living internationally from whom we love to receive prayer and praise reports. And we hope to be sending out short-term teams again in the near future.
I wonder. Will the Lord expect a report from us from our time here on earth? Certainly He will. For the Scripture says, “Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God” (Rom. 14:12).
PRAYER: Dear Father, our time here seems increasingly fleeting. One day soon we will stand before Your Son to give an account. Strengthen us to be faithful to Him in all things. For we long to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” In Jesus’ name, amen.