Daily Devotional for Friday, May 5

Festus Introduces Paul to Agrippa

“Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write,” Acts 25:26.

In the workplace, most of us report to somebody. There are almost always cases or situations that we have to refer to the higher-ups for decision making or guidance. When we do, the higher-ups expect us to have our ducks in a row, so to speak. Generally, all they want to do is make a decision and it is up to us to provide the necessary data for them to do that. Failing to provide good info can be embarrassing at best or result in discipline at work at worst.
It seems Festus was not really understanding the nature of the charges the Jews wanted to bring against Paul. Festus’ problem was that presenting charges to Nero that were unclear was not going to end well for Festus. He conferred with Herod Agrippa, the Roman appointed King of Judea, likely hoping Herod’s expertise with the Jews would help him sort this out.
On the other hand, this was shaping up to be quite an opportunity for Paul. Can you imagine getting the chance to share the gospel with one of the most important men of power in the government? In that day, leaders set the spiritual tone for their countries. Whichever way a leader went, so went the country. This was a golden opportunity, the stuff of evangelist dreams!
You may never get a chance to witness to the leader of your country, but God gives you opportunities to witness every day. He gives that to everyone. The only question is whether we take them or not. Are you taking the opportunities to share Jesus that the Father gives you?

THOUGHT: We should always be on the lookout for chances to present the gospel because we never know from where they will come.

Wally Fry