Almost…
Key Verse to Read and Treasure
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” (Acts 26:28, NKJV)
For Insight
The word “almost” means; “not quite, nearly.” When Paul was talking with King Agrippa about the risen Christ Agrippa spoke those words to him at the end. He told Paul, do you think in such a short amount of time you were going to persuade me to come to your side and belief in Jesus as risen…good try, you “almost“ had me, but not quite. Of course, it was not that Paul was not persuasive enough or his testimony about the Christ convincing enough, it was that Agrippa’s heart was hardened and he refused to be persuaded. He was the one who stopped short of believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
In our lifetime we will have many occasions and things where we will apply “almost” to. How many times we might utter “I almost did this or almost didn’t do that;”
I almost overslept…
I almost missed the plane…
I almost took a wrong turn…
I almost turned down that job or role…
I almost fainted…
I almost wrote them off…
I almost didn’t make it…
I almost didn’t return that call…
I almost forgot my…
That car almost hit me…
I almost hit them…
“Almosts’” are inevitable on this journey. Some we will be rejoicing about and others we will regret. But when it comes to our faith in Christ, or even our listening to the Holy Spirit we don’t want to come up short or miss the mark like King Agrippa. When it comes to our faith journey and receptivity to the Gospel, Good News about Jesus almost isn’t good enough or satisfactory we want to be all in, to receive and accept “it” fully.
Even though we might be in heaven saying “Wow! Thank you Jesus! I almost went to hell,” no one will be in hell saying “Wow! Thank you Satan, I almost made it into heaven!…”
Praying Acts 26:28
Thank you, Jesus, because of your sacrifice of the Cross of Calvary and your enabling me to put my faith in you I never have to say “I almost believed” but I can gladly say “I do believe and have faith in you.” I praise you for walking with me on this journey and for being destined for heaven by the grace of God and faith in your saving work. Amen
Digging Deeper:
Devotionally Yours 