Acts 20:7-12
On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight. There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were meeting. A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead. But Paul went down, and bending over him took him in his arms, and said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left. Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive and were not a little comforted.
What a strange, small story! And man, could that Paul TALK, eh? Do you have relatives or friends who can talk like this? Just story after story, detail after detail, until you, too, have to fight sleep??
The small packets in the picture up there are my first attempt at crochet after several years away from that craft. A friend’s two sons are having their first children just weeks apart this spring — one of them is already here! — and so I made them each a blanket and a cap and included a copy of Matthew Paul Turner’s delightful new book with each gift set. Babies need lots of sleep, and cozy blankets can help that happen.
Well, this man was young, but not quite a baby. And his unexpected sleep led to a near-disaster — falling 3 stories and dying on the spot! Yet, Paul doesn’t hesitate to tell everyone that death has not won in this kid’s life — at least, not yet.
And after that nice and weird little interruption, Paul proceeds to eat and then . . . to start talking once again! All.Night.Long.
I love that that detail is included in the telling of this story. I also love this one — they took the kid away! Enough was enough.
Lord, sometimes we don’t know when we hit enough. Give us ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to understand when it’s time to take a break, to stop talking, to let the Spirit breathe in our midst. Thank you that Paul wasn’t perfect and that someone took the time and care to tell us this little story — just in case we were in danger of imagining that he might have been!
Do I have relatives that can’t stop talking? And how! As important as Paul’s message was to the listeners, he would have definitely kept me up past my bedtime. What a miracle that the young man was healed.
Blessings, Diana!
I think we all have relatives like that, Martha!!
LOL I think I would have fallen asleep too, during a sermon that long. What darling baby gifts. I love giving books to new babies. I think they need stories very young–but short ones — lol .
Healing prayers,
Elaine
P. S. My younger sister and I had baby boys a month a part. We had so much fun preparing for them and watching them grow up.
How fun to raise your kids that close together! My daughter and son had babies one month apart during a particularly difficult time for all of us. It was a huge blessing to have those two little bundles to love – and still is, 11 years later!
Perhaps this is why sermons should be no longer than 30 minutes? 😂
ps. Would love your pattern for hat and blanket
Great idea!!! The blanket patter is in a Leisure Arts booklet and the cap is available online. Sorry, can’t be ore specific than that! I just used some yarn I’d had in a bin for years and years.
I don’t mind lectures or stories to go on for an hour or so….but all night long. I would have been out like a light. And I have been know to respond to questions while asleep, so boy, that boy was lucky he was healed. Maybe it’s time I reread Acts, this story never comes up in memory.
I remember this one from when I was a kid — and I totally got how it happened, even then. ALL NIGHT? No wonder he fell out that window!!