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This apparent "neglecting of the body" would have been the surest way of "satisfying
the flesh". Some children of God seem to go out of their way to look for martyrdom. It
would be far better to avoid all pretensions and save oneself up for the eventuality of the
real thing. In Acts 20: 24 Paul uttered those stirring words that found their fulfillment in
II Tim. 4::--
"None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I
might finish my course with joy."
Yet, look at verse 13 of the same chapter in Acts:--
"And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul:
for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot."
Here was no Stoic who could be "unmoved" simply because bereft of human feeling;
here was one that gladly availed himself of a little spell of relief from the constant
pressure of the lives of others. If we do not misread the passage, Paul was glad to "get
away" for a time; it was a kind of safety-valve.
Let us take consolation from these homely, every-day facts revealed for our learning.
Abraham lived many a day as humdrum as our own. He was not always "fighting",
"believing" or "offering". Paul, with all his strenuous witness, lived the life of a man.
However rapt his vision, he found time to eat and drink; however full of zeal, he must
have slept, and when he shivered with cold he was too great to be above asking for a
cloak. Let us leave the "pose" to others. Let us above all things seek reality, so that
our walk shall be worthy in those quiet and unrecorded days as well as during the
mountain-top experiences, when such a walk is comparatively easy.