Dec 10 - Acts 26:13-14

The Apostle Paul said,

"At midday along the road ...

I saw a light from heaven ...

When [I] had fallen to the ground,

I heard a voice saying,

'Saul, Saul, why are you

persecuting me ...?'"

Acts 26:13-14

Much of the end of Acts involves Paul's odd journey to Rome.

The journey starts in Jerusalem, and Paul's arrest is actually his first step toward the capital of the empire. Through these final chapters of Acts, Paul kept going through a number of trials, courts, governors, kings, and other officials until the Apostle began to appeal to Caesar himself.

God has a wonderful sense of humor. 

• The authorities were trying to shut Paul up. Instead, Paul's appeal to Caesar won him an all-expense paid trip to Rome. Indeed, a hostile government paid for Paul's final great missionary venture.
• Furthermore, when a criminal is arrested, what do they have to do again and again? Give their testimony. Paul's testimony wasn't a legal defense, of course, it was a spiritual testimony and a powerful witness.

If you look at Acts 22:6-16 and 26:12-18, Paul is testifying again and again about his conversion (which was originally recorded in Acts 9:1-19). He was testifying to his faith, of course, but he was using his conversion as an opening to his soul and a window into his faith.

We are called to always be ready to give an account for the hope that is in us (see 1 Pet 3:14). A good way to do this -- like Paul -- is to tell others of our conversion story. Even if you grew up in the church, I'll bet there was a moment when your inherited faith became your own personal faith.

Are you ready, able, and willing to testify again and again for the hope that is in you?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who didn't see a light from heaven,

but did see the God of heaven in

a bunch of spindly little trees

(but that's a story for another time)