Daily Devotions
An Unfinished Story
Reading for November 23rd: Acts 27-28
He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.
Acts 28:30-31
This is how the book of Acts ends. It ends with a lot of unfinished stories. What happens to Paul? Is he released from prison? Does he die a martyrs death? We’re not told.
Why did Luke not tell us the end of the story? The best answer is probably the simplest: he didn’t know how it ended. Luke sent the letter before he knew what happened to Paul.
But ultimately it doesn’t matter what happened to Paul. The story is not about him. It’s about the spread of the gospel. The fact that Paul was in prison didn’t matter. What was important was that Paul was in Rome, the center of the empire, and he was free to proclaim the kingdom and teach about Jesus without hindrance.
That’s what the book of Acts is all about. Nothing could stop the gospel, not the Jewish leadership, not Gentile opposition, not sorcerers, not prison, not beatings, not stoning, not shipwrecks, not poisonous snakes… not anything!
And if that’s what the book of Acts is about, then you and I are a part of that story.
Father, bless your Word that it might spread and increase today as it has for the last two thousand years!
