In today's passage, the Jews were working out a plot with which to kill Paul. Festus, who was classified as a good ruler, wanted to do a favor for the Jews. Paul, knowing God's promise, wanted to get to Rome to preach the Gospel there. The Jews attempted to befriend Festus and kill Paul on the way back to Jerusalem before any trial would occur. Festus attempted to do the Jews a favor to get some favor from their region. Both of these end results (the death of a "criminal" and favor in a constituency) are not always bad when the favor and the criminal are deserved. However, Festus and the Jews went about achieving their desires outside of ways that are honoring to God. Paul, who was a natural born Roman citizen, used his rights and appealed to Caesar. This made Paul's appointed trip to Rome a surety.
God is concerned with what we do in our lives. But He is also just as concerned about how we do things. We can have "perfect" children who never get into any trouble through the vehicle of fear or abuse, but that would be disobedient on our part and only result in children with bitterness and hearts that still seek to do evil. We can grow our church to thousands through all kinds of entertainment and preaching that leaves out any and all conviction. But God wants us to grow our church through soul-winning and preaching the truth of God's Word.
Can you think of anything in your life that you desire to accomplish, whatever the cost? Make sure the cost you are willing to pay is the cost that is glorifying to God.
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