Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear ones.

It’s hard to believe that 30 years ago today, we beheld the birthing of this unique soul we call Thano. We opted for a natural delivery…which took place in the office of a chiropractor/midwife’s office in Salem. I remember some real tension that took place with that event…as Thano must have been goofing off with the umbilical cord (maybe playing jump rope) and had a “cord wrap” that was suffocating him for awhile. Whew!

Becki and I did a walk/jog in the frosty air this morning. The sky was cloudless. And I confess that I was kind of lusting for the mountain…great ski conditions.

Blessings on your day.

Love, Dad/Ray

Paul is now a prisoner. But he’s not a normal one. Did you notice the last verse of the previous chapter? The verse I cited above is a repeat of that description—“Then he (Governor Felix) ordered that Paul be kept UNDER GUARD in Herod’s palace.” Wow! Herod’s palace! I don’t know what that was like, but I can imagine that it could 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. I’m quite sure that even that was entirely OK with Paul. After all, his guards represented further opportunities to share Christ.

Don’t think that Paul sat around doing the equivalent of watching TV, soaking in the hot tub, playing video games, and getting fat on fancy food. He was busy. In fact, 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).