Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

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March 23, 2010
            2-4-6-8, who do I appreciate?  You!
            How’s that for an intro?  Do you feel better yet?  This is also the intro to Thano’s 28th birthday.  Time sure flies. 
            Lots to do today.  Before getting into the thick of things, I think I’ll make Daisy frustrated…by taking off on a jog without her.  She can’t seem to comprehend that her broken leg should be sufficient reason not to go with me.
            May you be blessed today.
                        Love, Dad/Ray

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23 March 2010
Passage: Acts 24
Focus: “He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard…”  Acts 24:23.

            Paul is now a prisoner.  But he’s not a normal one.  Did you notice the last verse of the previous chapter?  “Then he (Governor Felix) ordered that Paul be kept UNDER GUARD in Herod’s palace.” Wow!  Herod’s palace!  I can only imagine that it would have been something like a fancy hotel.  It was definitely not a typical prison.  Verse 23 indicates that he had considerable freedom and could receive all the visitors he wanted.  The only catch was that he was UNDER GUARD.  But I’m quite sure that even that was quite OK with Paul.  After all, his guards represented further opportunities to share Christ.
            Don’t think that Paul sat around watching TV, soaking in the hot tub, playing video games, and getting fat on fancy food.  He was busy.  I wonder if God didn’t actually design this set of circumstances to give Paul the freedom and opportunity to do some vital work that is now part of our New Testament.  For it was while he was in this prison situation that he wrote the great letters of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and 2 Timothy.
            The beauty and glory of it all was that Paul was not only UNDER GUARD by the Roman legal system that protected him from the hatred and physical harm of the Jews, but he was also UNDER GUARD by a very big God.  And so are you!...if you, like Paul, are dedicated to doing His will.  “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under (UNDER GUARD of) the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).