Paul Preaches in Rome

Today I read Acts 28 where Paul and his companions are shipwrecked. The inhabitants are very friendly and help the inhabitants. Paul is bitten by a snake when he is collecting firewood and the inhabitants are convinced that Paul is a criminal that escaped justice. However, Paul is protected and not harmed when the snake bites him and the people think he must be a god. I am sure that Paul disabuses them of this notion almost immediately but Paul makes the best of a bad situation. He is given an opportunity to heal someone in the village of a bad fever and his ability spreads through the island. He is then given ample opportunity to heal the other inhabitants of the island.

Paul is always about the business of the Lord. He doesn't let the grass grow under his feet when he is on the island and as I mentioned above spends the time helping the inhabitants and I would not be surprised if he didn't manage to convert a few of the sailors as well. Paul is a man who lived his religion to it's fullest and took advantage of all the opportunities that God gave him. He eventually makes it to Rome and stands before the council to give his testimony.

Luke reports that he lives there for 2 years and preaches the Gospel converting some and not others. But he is treated like an oddity and people from all over the place come to see him and hear his story. This is where the church in Rome gets its start, from Paul and his testimony. Paul is a perfect example of how we should all be living our life in service to God and Jesus Christ. No matter where he was, he was always ready to share his testimony and was not ashamed of Jesus Christ. How often do we not speak up because we are scared to offend the person in question? Why are we more afraid of the people here than we are of God? I think it is because we are creatures of immediate gratification. What I mean by that is we are more concerned with what we can see, than what we can't see, meaning we are too focused on not offending the people that are right in front of us that we forget about our eternal focus. We need to be more concerned with Heavenly Father and what He thinks of us because this is the life that is not permanent.

Our ultimate goal in this life, like we have talked about before is to return to live with our Heavenly Father, that is what Eternal Life is. As we learn to be more like Him, we will want to share with the world what it is that makes us so special. It is up to us to show the world that we have the secret to true and everlasting happiness. That is the message that we have to share with the world. If we had a note that told us where $100 million was wouldn't you want to share it with your loved ones? Well we have a message of infinite more worth than mere money. We have the good news of the Gospel and Heavenly Father asks that we share it. After all he has done for us is that really such a hard thing to do on His behalf? I promise that the more you share it with others, the easier it is to continue sharing. It becomes enjoyable and we desire to help all of those around us. It will also help us be better people.

We have finished the book of Acts and now are moving into the Epistles portion of the New Testament which I am excited about. We are going back to reading about doctrine and not so much reading about the day to day activities of the Apostles. We should have lots to talk about in the coming weeks and months. Until tomorrow.