Good morning, brothers and sisters.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 9:23, “When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him.”
In a M*A*S*H episode, an Army intelligence officer was wounded and brought to the 4077th hospital for surgery Major Burns was the surgeon on duty, but upon learning that the wounded man was a secret agent, he stopped his procedure, stating that you cannot anesthetize a CID agent without another CID agent present, in case they say things that might be classified. Captains Pierce and McIntyre are flabbergasted when Burns tells them that the agent is lying in the operating room, not being operated on, simply because a second CID agent isn’t present “just in case.” Burns assures them that he is receiving an IV of blood, and that the CID agent on his way from headquarters will arrive anytime. Still taken aback, Pierce asks Burns how many minutes are in an “anytime,” and he and McIntyre go and operate on the CID agent immediately.
I’m not sure how many minutes make up an “anytime” in the military, just as I don’t rightly know how long “many days” was for Saul. But seeing that the end of the time resulted in a plot to kill a man, I presume that much progressed during the interval. Immediately, on day one, Saul proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues and all were amazed by his accounts, certainly enthralled to hear his miraculous conversion story. After a couple days, the Jews were probably confounded by their former ally as they were unable to disprove his claims of Jesus. After several days, those respected Jews continued to lose their arguments and no doubt decided to meet so they could figure out what could be done about this Saul character. Some days into this saga, specific leaders of the community had most likely been humiliated or embarrassed by Saul in their own arena and demanded of their cohorts for something to be done to restore their place of respect among their fellow citizens. And then, when many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him. Gradual, steady, powerful, and alive was the force within these men to take action against Saul. I wonder if you are somewhere on this timeline. Is something going on that is consuming you, or about to? Is it only day one, or have many days passed? Regardless, you best turn it over to Christ and be delivered from the grips that can lead to unpleasant outcomes.
As we seek Him today, empty your heart of what has you preoccupied with angst and unrest and trust in Jesus to take care of it and you.
Have a peaceful Monday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
