How long did it take for you to prepare for worship
this past Lord's Day? How far did you have to travel to go to
worship this past week? I can remember as a boy beginning to get
physically ready to go to worship on Saturday night, and then
things were usually pretty hectic around our house on Sunday mornings.
For, you see, we had eleven children in our family, so you can
imagine how things went on Sunday mornings. But Mom was diligent
and worked hard in making sure we had what was necessary.
When Linda and I lived in Germany, we traveled
about 35 to 40 miles every Lord's Day morning to get to the assembly.
We had an old 1965 Volkswagen sedan, and the "heater boxes"
had rusted off. In the wintertime, we had to keep a scraper inside
the car to scrape ice from the windshield, and we had to use blankets
to cover our laps. But, we always traveled to Frankfurt to worship
with our brothers and sisters in Christ. I know that others have
similar memories.
There is a record in Acts chapter eight of one
who traveled about 1500 miles, from Ethiopia in North Africa to
Jerusalem, for the purpose of worshipping God. This man was a
man of high authority; he was the queen's treasurer. He traveled
from his home to Jerusalem in a chariot. Common sense suggests
that this man did not travel alone but was probably with a caravan.
With a chariot he could hope to travel only about 20 miles in
one day, if that much. Let us say he could average 20 miles in
one day. How long did it take him to travel the 1500 miles? It
would have taken him about 75 days one-way. That is over two months!
Now, how long did it take you to get to worship on Sunday? Remember,
this Ethiopian came to Jerusalem for the stated purpose of worshipping
God. The traveling alone, to and from worship, took five months
out of this man's busy schedule!
Furthermore, how long did it take him to get ready
for the trip? Now, we have to speculate, but we can imagine it,
can we not? For a recent two-week trip to Texas, it took my wife
and me three days to get everything ready, and we anticipated
restaurants, rest stops along the interstate highway, motels for
the evenings, etc. The Ethiopian could not count on such luxuries.
Just the trip across the Sinai Peninsula would have been a rough
time. He would have had to take enough water and food for himself
and his servants, not to mention food and water for the animals.
It was, no doubt, a major undertaking! They would have had tents
for sleeping in at night, and these would have to be packed as
well. No, the Ethiopian nobleman did not have an easy commute
to worship.
This coming week, as you are preparing for worship
on Saturday night, and as you are traveling to the meeting place
on Sunday morning, think about this Ethiopian who became our brother
in Christ. We need more like him today. -P.O. Box 285, Crum, WV
25669.