I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 26-28

OK, I usually have a plan for what I am going to write when I start writing this blog.  Today, nothing “speaks” to me, but there are several elements which I feel worthy of some comment.  There are two tidbits from Paul’s audience/trial before Herod Agrippa.  When Paul began his “close” (a term from sales referring to when the salesperson makes the argument to which their listener will have no choice but to say “yes”), King Agrippa interrupts him to ask if Paul thinks he can persuade Agrippa so quickly.  Paul’s answer is one which we should strive for all of our non-Believer friends to be aware of, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.”  We may not be in chains, but we should wish that those we interact with would share our faith in Christ.  Those we associate with should know that we desire for them to come to have the joy which our faith in Jesus gives us.

The other tidbit comes when the audience concludes.  King Agrippa says to Festus, the governor, that if Paul had not appealed to Caesar he could be set free.  We know that is not really true.  The reason that Paul appealed to Caesar was because he knew that Festus would bow to political pressure to transfer him to Jerusalem, where he would have been killed.  King Agrippa was certainly aware of the political situation and would have known that Governor Festus would not go so far as to stir up the political problems which would have arisen from releasing Paul.