Hand It Over

"Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples." - Acts 14:24-28 ESV

The phrase that caught me was 'commended to the grace of God'. The word for commended is Paradidomi (Strong's G3860). 'Para' means near or beside and 'Didomi' which literally means to hand over.

That Church handed Paul over to grace. They gave him an important responsibility but they did it by handing him and the others that went with him to grace.

Oh, That is good.

That is true delegation.

That group going out was glad to come back because of the way things were handled.

Hear is a different idea.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!" - Matthew 23:23-24 ESV

I see the real contrast between 'straining at gnats' and 'commending to the grace of God.' Both pictures use a person's hands.

Who wants bugs in their tea? I don't. But, At the same time I have better things to do with my time. I want to be functioning in the things that hand people over to grace.

--