May 29, 2026 | Be Connected
Final Farewell
Scripture: Acts 20:36-38(NIV)
36 When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
Devotional
Final farewells can be hard. I remember the last time I talked to my dad, and nine months later my mom, when they were at death’s door. Indeed, at my mom’s funeral, all six of us siblings were together. We live in Oregan, California, Arizona, Ohio and Indiana (I’m the only remaining Hoosier). On the way to the cemetery, I had the thought that we may never all be together again. It was a sobering thought.
But a few months ago, Lisa and I flew to California to visit our daughter and her husband. They live between San Francisco and San Jose. While we were out west, we took a road trip to see my siblings and their spouses from California and Oregon. What a blessing.
In Paul’s case, he was certain he would never see the Ephesian elders again. He was headed to Jerusalem, where he would be arrested and taken to Rome to be imprisoned and eventually executed. This was indeed a final farewell.
But I don’t sense any regret in this departure. Paul had preached the Gospel, led people to Christ, and raised up leaders. He had finished his work in Ephesus. It would be up to others to carry it forward.
Later he would write a letter to them, now known as the book of Ephesians. He followed that up with two letters to their pastor, his protégé Timothy. In the sixteen chapters of these three letters, we see Paul’s heart for the believers in Ephesus. Though they would never again be together face-to-face, he would never stop loving and praying for them.
That’s a pretty good way to live. Sometimes a fork in the road causes a personal relationship to become a long-distance one. But that doesn’t mean it is a severed one.
Is there somebody in your life you have lost touch with? Maybe you could text or call or, dare I say, write them a letter !
