Daily Devotional for Friday, April 14

Paul is Rescued from Certain Death

“And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him,” Acts 21:35, 36.

I remember to this day an incident from first grade. My teacher had warned me over and over to quit playing on this hanging chain I was playing on. She kept telling me I was going to bust my head. Guess what? I did bust my head! After she had picked me up off the ground and made sure I was not dead, she said “I told you so!” Sometimes, we warn people about consequences, and they still do the thing we warned them about anyway. We love to say, “I told you so.”
Paul had been warned twice that going to Jerusalem was not going to go well. Following the leading of the Holy Spirit, Paul had ignored that counsel. Had those folks been so inclined, they could have told Paul “I told you so.” He was indeed in deep trouble. The Jews had gotten pretty worked up, believing Paul was teaching that the Law was no good. In reality, he was teaching that the Law had been fulfilled. They were so worked up that they would have killed Paul if not for the intervention of the Roman soldiers.
What we need to remember is that Paul was not necessarily caught by surprise by all of this. There is little doubt he took the warnings that had been given seriously. Paul knowingly and intentionally walked into a dangerous situation. Paul understood that the Christian life might be difficult, yet he always kept his eyes on the prize of eternity. That is also a good example for you. Tough times come for Christians, yet your Lord expects you to keep on doing His work. Are you ready and willing to do that?

THOUGHT: People will go to great lengths to get Christians to shut up. It is vital that we never do.

Wally Fry