Wasted Effort?

Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.
Acts 26:32

This verse above might make one think that Paul had just wasted his breath. That seems to have been Agrippa’s view. The apostle had labored for 28 verses to give his defense concerning the accusations made by the Jews while also sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. What Agrippa failed to realize was that Paul’s dialog wasn’t for Paul’s benefit at all. It was for Agrippa! It wasn’t an appeal for the apostle’s freedom. Paul saw it as an opportunity to preach the word of God to him that he and those with him might be saved.

How often are we guilty of the same as Agrippa when we hear the word of God? We think of who else would have profited from the word, and we wish they could have heard it. We don’t see the word as being for us, but better suited for another. “If only so-and-so had been here…” Well, he wasn’t! What we fail to recognize in those moments is that a sovereign God has determined that WE would be the ones who did hear it. If God sent it to us, then we need to examine our own hearts against what we’ve heard and not other men’s hearts. There’s, of course, nothing wrong with sharing a message with someone who missed it because we think it would be a blessing to them, but we must first measure ourselves against the word we have heard.

Paul’s preaching that day was not in vain. (1Co 15:58) It wasn’t wasted effort. God in His great mercy had sent a man to declare Jesus Christ to Agrippa and those with him. Rom 10:14-15 asks a series of questions: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” Saving belief starts with God sending someone to share the good news, and that’s exactly what He had done through the Apostle Paul. God had sent a man to Agrippa that he might hear and thus believe and call on the Lord!

As much as that fact exalts God’s grace and mercy, it also comes with a frightening reality. If God has sent someone to give us His word, we are then accountable for it! The Lord speaks of those in Rom 1:18 who have known the truth but refused to believe it. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” The sad ending to Paul’s declaration of such glorious truths before Agrippa was that he responded to the apostle, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” May we believe and obey the gospel every time we’re privileged to hear it, recognizing that the next time we hear God speak to us may be in eternity…

Jamie

2 Replies to “Wasted Effort?”

  1. Amen. I was thinking while I was reading this everytime we read the Bible, or hear the Gospel preached, or just in sharing the Gospel with others our hearts should be pricked by God’s word. To feel His mercy and love is a blessing. Praise God for Jesus Christ. Thank you for sharing your heart.

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