The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Acts 27:33-36, “And until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, ‘Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing. 34 ‘Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation; for not a hair from the head of any of you shall perish.’ 35 And having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all; and he broke it and began to eat. 36 And all of them were encouraged, and they themselves also took food.”

There can be no doubt that Paul was an encourager. Throughout this seafaring disaster,

he continuously said, “Be of good courage.” For 14 days, the 276 persons on board had

eaten nothing (v. 37). (I’m hungry as I write this!) Now, Paul instructs them to eat! Our

eating habits today are often not the best, and what we eat is not always the best. Much

of our “fast” food lacks the nutrition our bodies need. The LORD put food on Earth for our

preservation; yet, often, we eat to our bodies’ devastation!

Having instructed everyone to eat, Paul himself began to eat –but only after He publicly

thanked the LORD for His provision. Yes, wherever we are, we should pray and thank the

LORD before we eat the food set before us. (If I were to tell you missionary stories of native foods and manners of eating, you would better understand why we pray first!) We often

instruct others how to behave, and we should; but we ourselves need to behave according

to the same instruction. We must be what we tell others to be. When we are, we give

credence to what we have said; and herein is the LORD glorified!

We pray for you as you instruct others and for behavior that gives them light,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”