A Strange Twist
Acts 26:32 And Agrippa said to Festus, "We could let him go free, but he has asked to see Caesar."
Have you ever done something or said something that you regret? Something you wish you could unwind and change? Well, here’s something amazing for you next time you find yourself in that place.
The Apostle Paul is an interesting guy. He was a religious nut, an extremist, a fundamentalist, a Pharisee who persecuted Christians mercilessly, until he met Jesus for himself on the road to Damascus.
And on that day, his life was turned upside down. From then on, he spent the rest of his days proclaiming the Good News of Jesus across the known world … only for himself, in turn, to be persecuted by the Jews.
In his latter days, he goes to Jerusalem where the religious leaders have him arrested on trumped up charges. They plot to kill him, so eventually, running out of options, as a Roman citizen he appeals to the Emperor as he was entitled to do.
But when the local King – Agrippa – hears the charges, this is what he says:
Acts 26:32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “We could let him go free, but he has asked to see Caesar.”
Now it seems here as though Paul made a huge blunder. If he’d just kept his mouth shut, he could have gone free. At that point, we’re not told this, but I have no doubt, Paul must have been kicking himself. “What a dumb thing to do. If only I could wind that back and do it again, and this time say nothing!”
And yet, God goes on to use this apparent blunder to have Paul spend years proclaiming Christ from his dungeon in Rome. Paul even wrote some of the books in the New Testament from that prison cell.
It’s funny how God works sometimes. He can even take our blunders and use them for His glory!
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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