Saturday, January 17, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Acts 27-28
Key Verse
Acts 27:38 — “And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.”
Devotional Thought
Three times in Acts 27 the word “cheer” appears on Paul’s lips, and each time it is spoken into a situation where cheer seems impossible. The ship is driven before Euroclydon, the sun and stars have been hidden for many days, the cargo is gone, the tackle is gone, and every hope of survival has been taken away. That is the setting in which Paul stands up and says, “Be of good cheer.” His confidence is not in the weather or the ship or the sailors, but in a word from God delivered by an angel: “Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar.” The promise did not calm the sea, but it anchored the man.
Notice how God keeps His promise through ordinary, unspectacular means. The ship runs aground exactly as foretold; the soldiers plot to kill the prisoners, but a centurion named Julius, who had shown Paul courtesy back at Sidon, intervenes; those who can swim jump first, and the rest cling to broken boards. All two hundred threescore and sixteen souls escape safe to land, just as God had said. Then on Melita, Paul gathers sticks for a fire and a viper fastens on his hand. The islanders conclude he is a murderer whom vengeance will not let live; when he shakes the snake into the flames and feels no harm, they decide he is a god. Both verdicts are wrong — he is simply a man under a promise, doing the next small thing: warming himself, praying for Publius’s father, laying on hands, healing the sick.
And so the voyage ends not in Rome’s triumph but in God’s faithfulness. Paul arrives in chains, yet with liberty to dwell in his own hired house, and for two whole years he receives all who come, “preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.” The book of Acts does not close with a verdict from Caesar; it closes with an open door.
In mid-January, when the holidays are past and the year ahead can feel like a long stretch of contrary winds, this passage asks something of us. It asks us to keep doing the small faithful things — gathering sticks, giving thanks, breaking bread before fearful men — while we wait on a promise we cannot yet see fulfilled. It asks us to believe God, as Paul did, that it shall be even as it was told us.
Reflection
- Where in your life right now has “all hope” been taken away, and what specific promise of God are you being called to believe in the middle of it?
- Paul served faithfully in chains for two years with no recorded outcome. Are you willing to be faithful in a season that may not resolve the way you hope?
Prayer
Lord God, whose word stands firmer than any storm, we thank You that You did not abandon Paul on the Adriatic deep, and that You will not abandon us. When sun and stars are hidden and hope is taken away, give us grace to believe You, as Your servant did, and to be of good cheer because Your promise cannot fail. Teach us to do the next small faithful thing — to gather sticks, to give thanks, to pray for the sick, to speak of Jesus with all confidence. Bring us safely to the haven You have appointed, and let no man forbid the work You have given us to do. In the name of Christ, Amen.