Pray:
Lord, help me to be a person who acts when that is the right thing to do. Help me to risk and, in it, to trust You.
Read:
Acts 23:12-22
Reflect:
What role does each person play in the story?
In this part of Paul's story three people were stirred by God to do something outside of their comfort zone.
It would have been easy for Paul's nephew, on hearing of a plot to kill his uncle, to think, "What can I do? I'm just a young man! Who's going to listen to me?" (16).
It would have been easy for the centurion to think, "Why should I follow the order of a prisoner and risk the anger of my commander by passing on a message that could be completely untrue?" (18).
It would have been easy for the commander to think, "Why should I listen to this boy?" And, as we'll see in tomorrow's reading, "Why should I go to the trouble of using 470 soldiers just to save one troublemaker?" (23).
The Irish philosopher and politician Edmund Burke famously said: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." It takes bravery to do what is right. And that's scary.
Apply:
If we were not afraid of something we would have no need to be brave. Purpose to be brave and do what is right.
Pray:
You are my wisdom and my strength. You will honor the one who honors You even if there is a cost in this life.
