Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Acts 21-22
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 6
Key Verse
Acts 21:36 — “For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.”
Devotional Thought
What does it mean to be led by God into hardship? Paul knew the answer. He had been warned repeatedly—by the disciples at Tyre, by the prophet Agabus at Caesarea, even by his companions’ tears—that Jerusalem meant chains and suffering. Yet he went, saying, “I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” This is costly obedience, the kind that does not mistake divine guidance for a guarantee of safety. In January, when we are still near the threshold of a new year, we do well to ask whether we have made room in our plans for the possibility that God’s will may lead us somewhere difficult. The road to Jerusalem was not a detour from Paul’s calling; it was the calling itself.
We also see the tenderness of Christian community along the way. At Tyre, whole families—wives and children—walked with Paul to the shore, and there they knelt together in the sand and prayed. At Caesarea, Philip the evangelist opened his home, and his four prophesying daughters shared in the life of the Spirit. These are not incidental details. They show us that even when believers disagree—for the friends at Tyre urged Paul not to go, and Paul would not be persuaded—love holds. They ceased striving and said, “The will of the Lord be done.” Sometimes the deepest fellowship is found not in agreement but in entrusting one another to God.
In Jerusalem, Paul did what he could to preserve peace. He joined the purification rites, walking orderly according to the law, so that no false charge might stick. But the crowd seized him anyway, crying, “Away with him!”—the same cry once raised against Christ. Beaten, bound with two chains, carried up the stairs by soldiers, Paul asked only for a chance to speak. Standing above the mob, he told his own story: a persecutor stopped dead by light on the Damascus road, blinded, led by the hand, healed by Ananias, baptized, and sent. He gave testimony, not argument. When the crowd turned violent again at the word “Gentiles,” the Roman captain prepared to scourge him—until Paul quietly noted he was a Roman citizen, free born. God’s servant was not forgotten in the chaos.
Psalm 6 gives voice to the night season that faithful obedience sometimes brings. “I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim.” Yet the psalm turns: “The LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.” Paul’s tears and the tears of his friends were not wasted. Whatever this year holds—chains or open doors, crowds or quiet shores—the Lord hears, and the Lord receives the prayer of His people.
Reflection
- When God’s clear leading points toward difficulty rather than comfort, what in your life makes it hard to say with Paul, “I am ready”? What would surrender look like this week?
- Paul told his story plainly—what he was, what Christ did, what he was sent to do. Can you tell your own story of grace in a few sentences, and to whom might you tell it?
Prayer
O Lord, Thou who didst hear the voice of David’s weeping and stand beside Paul in chains, hear us. We confess that we often choose the easier road and call it wisdom. Give us hearts ready not only to be bound but to follow Thee wherever Thou leadest, trusting that Thy will is good even when it is hard. Thank You for the brethren who kneel with us on the shore and weep with us on the journey. When the night is long and our couch is watered with tears, remind us that Thou hast heard our supplication. Let all our enemies be ashamed; let Thy servant walk in peace, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 6:1 — “O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.”