There is a story in Acts 20 about a man named Eutychus. We know very little about him, except that he was a young man; but I would guess his name is well known by most children that attend Bible class on a regular basis.
Paul had traveled to Greece, spending about three months with the people there. He was accompanied by several men, and they continued their journey to Troas.
It was the first day of the week, the time when the disciples or followers of Christ came together for worship. Paul preached to the people on this first day of the week, planning to leave and continue his journey the following day.
The scripture says that Paul continued his speech until midnight. During his sermon, Eutychus fell asleep while sitting in a third story window. He slept so hard that he fell out of the window to the ground and was killed.
Can you imagine the chaos that followed as the people rushed down the steps to find Eutychus lying on the ground, dead from his fall? Yet I wonder if Paul reacted at all.
Verse 10 says, “And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, ‘trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him’.” Paul casually checked the young man, and declared that he was alive.
What a shock this must have been to the people attending this service! They came for a sermon, and they saw a man raised from the dead. And what about Eutychus? He went to hear this special man named Paul, and he became the recipient of a miracle.
Aside from the miracle, this story speaks to us of something we need to think about. Just as Eutychus’ life ended (even if just for a short time), our life could be taken from us at any moment.
Are we prepared to enter the life beyond death? I have a dear friend who three months ago was suffering with some back problems. She discovered she had a tumor on her spine and was sent for chemotherapy. She developed a serious infection, and she is lying in a hospital bed fighting for her life. Could this happen to you or me? Of course, it can. We have no promise of tomorrow, and yet we live as though we are going to live forever.
Eutychus didn’t come to the worship service on the first day of the week expecting to die. Fortunately for him, Paul had the power through the Holy Spirit to raise him from the dead.
None of us know when our time will come or when the Lord will come again. I Thessalonians 5:2 says, “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (NKJV). There will be no warning, so we must live ready to meet the Lord.
Even though we are almost to the end of the first month of the new year, let us resolve to live faithfully so that we will be ready for whatever the Lord has in store for us.
Sandra Oliver