Daily Devotional for Wednesday, April 26

Paul Is Rescued

“And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night; and provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor,” Acts 23:23, 24.

A Japanese proverb tells us that “the nail that is sticking up gets hammered down.” This means a lot in Japanese society, where conformity to accepted norms is very important. It means that those who are different or stick out from societal norms will quickly face criticism and even ostracism from others. The thinking is that those who dare to be different must be quickly dealt with so that they might again be normal.
Paul spent much of his life (post-conversion) seeming to be a nail sticking up. It seems Paul was often being hammered down by Jewish society because the faith he preached challenged the norms of that society. This time, the Jews actively plotted to kill Paul! This time the nail would not be simply hammered down but taken out of the picture all together. What was Paul’s crime? Paul’s crime was to preach the gospel of righteousness by grace through faith, rather than by the Law. Outside of that, Paul was innocent of any charges or violations of Roman law. If you zealously proclaim the gospel, you will be seen as a nail sticking up also; others may attempt to metaphorically hammer you down as well.
While unpleasant, you do not need to be dismayed. You only need to remember two things. One, God is working His plan. We can see that in Paul’s story in our devotional passage. Two, God will protect you when you are doing His work. We also see that in our passage. Keep going! God has your back.

THOUGHT:If you never experience any push back from the world as a Christian, it might mean you are doing nothing as a Christian.

Wally Fry