After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. "After I have been there," he said, "I must visit Rome also." – Acts 19:21

Today's Scripture Reading (February 8, 2021): Acts 19

Robert Craig Knievel, better known as stunt rider Evel Knievel, asserted that "I decided to fly through the air and live in the sunlight and enjoy life as much as I could." The key is that Evel decided what was best for Evel. And so those who would maybe criticize the way that Evel lived his life could back off. This was his decision. Evel summed up his beliefs in a poem he wrote about the decisions that he had made in life. And in the conclusion of the poem, Knievel writes this;

For you, to do what I do, is not right-
But, for me, it's not wrong
What I've been trying to tell you all along
Is that it's got to be.
So, you wonder why?
The answer to that is just like you,
I've got to be me...

So, whether it was jumping a bunch of buses at the local mall or trying to get across the Snake River Canyon on his Skycycle X2, Knievel always "got to be me."

The NIV says that Paul decided to go to Jerusalem. In reading the text, it would be as if he simply made a decision as to what was right for Paul. Just as Knievel "decided to fly through the air and live in the sunlight and enjoy life as much as I could," Paul decided to go to Jerusalem and then to Rome. But that isn't quite right. There might even be a two-level decision present in the statement.

Paul's desire to go to Rome might be on par with Knievel's decision; it is something that he wanted to do. But his decision to go to Jerusalem, at the very least, was very different. The actual Greek phrase used in this verse is "tithemi en pneuma," literally "purposed in the Spirit." The decision to go to Jerusalem was not something that Paul simply wanted to do; it wasn't Paul saying, "I got to be me." It was impressed on him the Holy Spirit. God compelled him to go to Jerusalem. We see this divine "purpose to go to Jerusalem" in the story of Agabus and Paul in Acts 21:10-14. Agabus was a prophet who warned Paul that if he went to Jerusalem, the Spirit had shown him that the Apostle would be arrested. But because this was not his decision, but rather that God compelled him to go, Paul refused to be dissuaded. If God wanted him to go to Jerusalem, he could take care of him in Jerusalem. And as for Rome, well, that decision would come later.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1