18:18 So Paul
still remained a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for
Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him.
About twenty years ago my dad put a V8 engine in his tractor.
Then he fixed it all up and painted it. He even took it to a few shows and in
some parades. He loved that tractor. When he moved east to live with us and
then we all moved west the tractor stayed behind with a relative.
Last week my brother-in-law took a truck and trailer to
Quebec and brought it west unknown to my dad. When he saw it I thought he was
going to cry. However for him the "reunion" was bitter sweet. He
remembered his tractor as shiny. Now he saw it in desperate need of some long
overdue tlc. The funny thing is it doesn't look much different from the last
time he saw it. The only real difference is that time and space have made him
more objective. He used to see it every day and he was blinded by familiarity
and his emotional connection to the tractor. I guess it's similar to how
everyone else notices your children grow but you don't as much and then one day
you have a more objective moment and you suddenly wonder what happened.
What does all this have to do with Paul? Remember when he
first came to Corinth he stayed with a Jewish couple and helped them make
tents? Then he preached in the synagogue and got a fairly cold reception and
told them he was giving up on the Jews and going to the Gentiles. Remember all
that? He even moved out of their house and into the home of a Gentile.
Now after eighteen months Paul is leaving and the only people
to go with him are this same Jewish couple that welcomed him from the
beginning.
Emotions can be blinding. They cause us to not see things
that are there or see things that aren't there. Then when the emotions cool or
we have the benefit of time and space objectivity returns. It's too easy to
lump people into categories when really we are only upset a one person for one
thing at one point in time.
Whether it's riots in the USA or Islamic terrorism or the
atheist or religious nut next door to you, check your emotions. You may be more
blind than you think. You might even be shutting out the very people who have
stood by you from the start simply because you lumped them into an emotionally
charged box.
The good news is, if you stick with Jesus like
Paul did, He'll bring you 
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