Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 26-28.

Paul’s final statement in his audience before King Agrippa should color our thoughts when we speak with those who are not yet Believers in, and Followers of, Jesus Christ: “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”  Let us seek in all we say and do to influence those around us to repent of their sins and turn to God.  I want us to think about the fact that Paul made this statement after King Agrippa recognized that Paul was attempting to convert him.  All too often when we are confronted by those to whom we are witnessing, we apologize rather than following Paul’s example and saying, “Well, of course I am trying to convince you to follow Christ, I care about you.”

I read a blog this morning which condemned the pastors and leaders of many Christian (or, perhaps, merely supposedly Christian) Church groups for completely shutting down during the Covid lockdowns.  Specifically, he spoke out against the Church of England forbidding its priests from responding to the call from England’s NHS for volunteer chaplains to minister to the sick and dying out of fear that those priests might contract Covid and die.  The reason that struck me relative to today’s passage is because many of those same priests, and other Church leaders who behaved similarly out of fear of Covid, often present themselves as successors to Paul.  In today’s passage, Paul survived a shipwreck, where the odds against his survival were much greater than those for someone who contracts Covid, and the bite of a poisonous snake, which those present thought was divine judgement for his sins.  Having said this, I want to also commend those shepherds of God’s people who refused to stop ministering to those whom God put in their care in the face of government persecution.  Let us remember that God is supreme and let us serve Him knowing that even sure death is not sure if God chooses otherwise.  Let us serve Him, even if He does not choose to rescue our bodies, because the eternal reward far outweighs the short term mortal suffering we might experience.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.