Acts 26:28-27:8
28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”
29 Paul replied, “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.”
30 The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. 31 After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”
32 Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
27:1When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. 2 We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.
3 The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. 4 From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5 When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8 We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. [1]
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What struck me in today’s passage is Paul’s persistent patience in witnessing.
Not to mention his incredible confidence. Here he is standing before King Agrippa and his sister Bernice, Governor Festus and his court, in chains, but anything but broken. Confident and clear on his purpose and mission, as he calmly tells all of them that he prays that they come to faith in Christ. His chains do not mean that he has lost or been defeated in any way. I think this picture speaks to our reluctance to witness because we fear rejection or other negative consequences. The consequence cannot be worse than what Paul was experiencing – and yet he presses on.
But what really struck me was Paul’s persistent patience. When Agrippa remarks that Paul cannot convince him to convert in such a short time, Paul replies that he doesn’t care how long it takes. His prayer is for the conversion of all of them regardless of the time. The implication is that He will continue witnessing, teaching, preaching, sharing the love of Jesus – no matter how long it takes. Along with Paul’s courage, this patient persistence is something to imitate as well.
I think of people in my life who do not know Christ, people I’ve prayed for for years. Is there a time limit to my praying? When do I give up on them? The answer is that there is no time limit and I am never to give up. Short time or long, I am to continue praying for them and continue to bring the presence of Christ into their lives by word and deed.
So in my prayer today, I’m praying for the pre-Christians in my family, among my friends, my neighbors, the people I work out with at the gym. I pray that — short time or long – they all come to faith in Christ. And I pray that my life would be a faithful witness among them.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Ac 26:28–27:8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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