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

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

Luke’s account of Paul’s testimony before Agrippa contains two things I want to highlight today.  It seems that for most of Paul’s testimony, Festus viewed it as pointless exposition by a religious scholar.  However, when Paul declared that he believed in the resurrection of the dead, Festus could contain himself no longer and declared that Paul was crazy to believe that.  We will find many who are willing to listen to the Gospel as long as we talk about the moral code it enacts, but who will be unwilling to continue when we explain why that moral code is binding.  Paul’s responds to Festus’ accusation of insanity by appealing to Agrippa’s knowledge of what had happened.  I want to note that Agrippa clearly felt that Paul’s appeal to him was an attempt to get him to make a commitment to Christ.  Which brings me to something we should all strive for.  We should all pray, just as Paul did, that those we encounter come to know the Lord, whether it happens quickly or takes a long time.  We should strive to have the same urgency to communicate the Gospel which Paul had, desiring people to respond at once but being willing to wait for the Holy Spirit to work.

Luke’s account of Paul’s trip to Rome as a prisoner tells us a lot about Paul’s character and how others saw him.  When the ship docked in Sidon, the commander of the guards escorting Paul allowed him to go onshore to visit with friends.  Then later, when they were in Fair Havens and debating whether to go to a better winter harbor, Paul was consulted, even though they did not take his advice.  Then when the ship became caught in the storm which eventually wrecked it, Paul took a leadership role, encouraging those aboard, convincing the soldiers to keep the sailors  from abandoning ship, and getting everyone to eat shortly before they ran aground.