Hello! Hope you all are having a great Wednesday! Can you believe that Thanksgiving is tomorrow already?? Craziness. Hope you all have fun and exciting plans for delicious food and quality time with your families! We are going up to Tulsa for the weekend to visit with some of James’ family who lives there. Should be a fun weekend! I will definitely miss seeing my family in Michigan though, especially since we won’t be able to see them for Christmas either. Moving and around and travelling is fun, but being so far away from home definitely has it’s low points as well. Anyways, enough with my sad rant on missing family.
This morning I was reading about Paul again in Acts. As I mentioned yesterday, Paul was imprisoned for speaking out about Jesus. After some time in prison, he was asked to present his case in front of King Agrippa. After Paul shared his testimony, King Agrippa sarcastically asked Paul if he could persuade Agrippa to become a Christian in such a short time as during the case.
“Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
Acts 26:29
Even though Paul was in prison, and was being held there for no just reason, he still wished to spread the good news of Christ—even to those who were persecuting him. When Agrippa asked Paul if he could persuade him to become a Christian in such a short amount of time, Paul didn’t skip a beat. Instead of being sarcastic right back at him, Paul instead chose to respond by saying that he would pray for Agrippa to see the truth—no matter how long that may take. While Paul was a great man, he was also still human, and I’m sure it wasn’t always easy for him to be kind and loving to those who rejected or persecuted him. But, in doing so, he has provided us with an excellent example of how to live and act in the face of adversary.
It’s not always easy to pray for our enemies, but it is vital to the Christian life. When faced with a difficult situation, and you find it hard to be kind to someone—particularly someone who is being mean to you—remember the way Paul treated his enemies. Strive to act in the same way as he did, and pray for the salvation of those who persecute or reject you.
Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow! I more than likely won’t be posting, so have a great day giving thanks with friends, family and, of course, food! God Bless:)