Being An Encourager
(Series on encouraging – Part 8)
Therefore encourage each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11.
Aquila and Priscilla – Servants of God
The story of these two friends of the apostle Paul is told in Acts 18. Aquila, a Jewish Christian, and his wife, Priscilla, first met Paul in Corinth, became good friends of his, and shared in his work. These two remarkable people belong in the pantheon of Christian heroes, and their ministry is both an encouragement and an example for us.
When we first meet Aquila and Priscilla, we are told that they had come to Corinth from Italy as victims of Roman persecution, not for their Christian faith but because Aquila was a Jew. The Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, and no doubt Jews deemed it unsafe to remain in any part of Italy. Aquila and Priscilla found their way to Corinth and settled there, pursuing their trade as tentmakers. When Paul, a tentmaker himself, came to Corinth, he went to see them, no doubt having heard of their faith in Christ. Aquila and Priscilla befriended Paul opened their home to him, they encouraged him in anyway they could, and helped Paul to found the Corinthian church.
After a year and a half, Paul left Corinth for Ephesus and took Aquila and Priscilla with him. The couple stayed in Ephesus when Paul left and established a church in their home
(1 Corinthians 16:19).
These two remarkable people set an example for us of hospitality, seen in opening their home to Paul and using their house as a meeting place for the church. We are also impressed by their passion for Christ and their hunger for knowledge of Him.
Another hallmark of the lives of Priscilla and Aquila is their desire to build others up in the faith. Paul’s last reference to them is in his last letter. Paul was imprisoned in Rome and writing to Timothy one last time. Timothy was pastoring the church at Ephesus, and Aquila and Priscilla are there with him, still faithfully ministering (2 Timothy 4:19). To the end, Aquila and Priscilla were offering hospitality to other Christians, spreading the Gospel they had learned from Paul, and rendering faithful service to the Master.
Read
Acts 18:1-4.
Prayer
I thank and praise You my Father, that You are my light and my salvation, my courage and the strength of my life, and that there is nothing to fear when You are nearby. Lord, my hope is in You for I know that no enemy can penetrate the spiritual wall of protection that surrounds me in Christ, and that nothing can touch my life that You do not permit if I remain in Him, Who is my light and the upholder of my life, and in His name I pray. Amen.
Very encouraging