"Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow"

     Saying goodbye to friends is never easy.  You may get a lot of parties and well wishes to succeed where you are going, but it is a mixture of sweet and bitter all at the same time.  I worked at an underground installation for a number of years and after a bit of time, I decided to move on and was promoted to a district job.  The office had a going away party for me complete with decorations that included a drawing of a black parachute which was speaking about my involvement in security with the company.  There was also a set of four small books in a little slipcase that was helpful in any writing that I was going to do.  I was, however, leaving men and women that I had worked with for the past 3 years.  William Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet, "Parting is such sweet sorrow."  We have an excellent illustration of this in the following passage.  Acts 20:35 says, "I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."   
       Paul had spent quite a long time in the city of Ephesus but it time for him to leave.  After teaching for a couple of years, the Holy Spirit moved him on but it wasn't a bucket of joy for the Apostle nor for the people of Ephesus.  We have the description of the scene as it transpired in Ephesus recorded in the Book of Acts.  In Paul's parting remarks, he makes a quote from the Lord Jesus Christ.  The interesting point in this passage is that it is not recorded in the Gospels but is nonetheless an important teaching that we have as a result of Paul's departure from Ephesus.  The quote is, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."    We also know from the closing of the Gospel of John, that there were many more things done by the Lord Jesus Christ, including words that He said, that are not recorded in the Gospels.  The reminder of this point to the church at Ephesus was to be a stimulation to the young church congregation.  While we are blessed, there is an increased blessing due to our giving which actually puts money far down on the list.  Men and women, boys and girls can all be a part of this increased blessing by giving to others and it certainly begins with the giving of ourselves.  First, we give of ourselves to God simply because of what He has done for us in the sending of His Son to die on the cross for our sins.  Because of this, we have a place in heaven.  Christ gave the supreme gift that we might have this life.  He didn't give a chest filled with gold, but He gave Himself.  So, what are you giving today?  Praise God today for His supreme gift to us.