Week 9: Acts 27-28 & Ephesians 1-6

     One of the most applicable stories I've read so far in the New Testament happens in Acts 27. Paul is one of several prisoners on a ship bound from Jerusalem to Rome. In verse 8, the ship has harbored in a place called "the fair havens." Paul is inspired to tell the captain that to leave the fair havens would endanger the ship and lives of all passengers. "I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading [cargo] and ship, but also of our lives," he warns. But those in charge refuse to listen for two reasons: first, because the owner of the ship disagrees with Paul, and second because the fair havens is "not commodious to winter in" (verse 12). They leave their mooring in the fair havens and as they set sail the south wind is blowing softly, making Paul's warning seem ridiculous. But in verses 14 and 15, a "tempestuous wind" kicks up and the ship is driven by a deadly storm, eventually leaving them shipwrecked after two long weeks in the storm.
     This story is so applicable to the real-life situation of making a wrong choice. It starts off with the Spirit warning us that what we are about to do is wrong, just as Paul warned those who oversaw the ship, but we often ignore the promptings because 1) the world disagrees with the reasons the Spirit gives, or 2) because it's more comfortable or pleasing to follow through with this wrong decision (such as when staying at a party where an inappropriate movie is being watched is less embarrassing than getting up and leaving). This directly parallels the ship captain's decision to listen to the ship owner/leave the fair havens because it wasn't as convenient to stay there. When we have ended up making the wrong choice, sometimes the immediate result isn't punishing at all - maybe it's even gratifying. We scoff at the warnings we received from the Holy Ghost about the wrongdoing we were contemplating. However, whether it's in the near future or far in the future when we are eventually judged by God, we receive what we deserve for sinning and are spiritually "shipwrecked" for disobeying.