“Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these chains.”
–Acts 26:28–29
In Acts 26:28–29, Paul’s testifying before King Agrippa, and Agrippa says to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” And Paul said, verse 29, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these chains.”
I love this picture. You’ve got Paul. He’s testifying before the king and leaders, and when his life is on the line. But what is driving Paul in the middle of this testimony is not even his own life and safety and preservation. What’s driving him, he says, “I would to God that you and all of who hear me this day would become such as I am,” basically, believe what I am saying, would become a follower of Christ. He longs for those who are questioning him. For those who are interrogating him, for those who are trying him to know the love of Christ. To experience the grace of Christ. To believe the gospel of Christ. That’s what’s driving Paul.
We should long for the people around us to know and believe the gospel of Christ.
This Verse Drives Us To Spread The Gospel Of Christ
And so I think about my life, I think about our lives, what is our driving motivation? Do we long for the people around us to know the love of Christ? To believe the gospel of Christ. Above all, is that what’s driving our interactions today? We want people to believe this. We want people to know this. Even more than we are concerned about this or that in our lives. Then are we concerned about other people’s eternity? Are we concerned about other people coming to know Christ? That’s the picture here in Paul. May it be the picture in our lives.
Acts 26:28–29 Pray To Share the Gospel With Others
Oh God, we pray that you would give us this kind of drive, this kind of motivation, today. I pray for this in my life. I pray for this in people who are listening to this. May we be driven with a desire, a passion, to see the people around us come to know Christ. It leads even to a pleading for them to come to know Christ. Therefore, Lord help us to share the gospel faithfully. Help us not to be silent with it. Rather, help us to speak it, and as we speak it, God, help us to plead with people to become as we are in the sense of being saved by your grace. Being brought into a relationship with you. Lord, help us to live for that today. Use our lives toward that end today, as we have opportunities. Just like Paul had his opportunity before King Agrippa. As we have opportunities today to share the gospel, help us to speak and to live so that other people would come to know your love in Christ. Please use us today toward that, and would that people around us in our neighborhoods, or apartment complex, or in our campuses, would that people around us in our workplaces, would the people around us in our communities, the cities where we live, would that people would come to know Christ through us today, this week. May it be so. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
