Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Acts 24

Governor Felix wanted to play with Christianity. He liked the idea of it, and he apparently enjoyed listening to Paul talk about it. Did he ever really believe it, though?

Like so many people that go to church every week because they feel obligated to go, or they have a habit of getting up, or they enjoy talking with their friends that are also at church, Governor Felix kept Paul in prison (low security to be sure) for two years because he like the idea of Christianity. I'm not sure that he ever really developed any meaningful relationship with God in that entire time, though. Felix was more interested in getting a bribe from Paul or keeping the Jews happy, whichever came first, than he was in responding to the urges of the HS. And I think it's pretty obvious that the HS was working on him when he became afraid after listening to Paul preach.

Felix knew what God required of him, and Felix ignored it. It's mind blowing to me how someone could have listened to Paul preach and not become a believer, but it happens. People managed to do just that after listening to Jesus himself. It's amazing how we can be so selfish even in the presence of hearing God's grace, and yet we continue to do it. The question is, how many times do we play church for our own interests rather than for God's?

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