The NIV 365 Day Devotional
Rome at Last
The future of the Gentile church depends in large measure on what happens to Paul, God’s chosen Apostle to the Gentiles. The last few chapters of Acts portray a spiritual tug-of-war in which God turns apparent tragedy into good. Paul gets arrested; he’s sent at last to Rome. The ship is wrecked; they all survive. A poisonous snake bites Paul; he shakes it off and starts a healing ministry. The voyage ends at last in Rome.
Paul knows that if Christianity is to gain a foothold anywhere, it has to be in Rome. “All roads lead to Rome” is more than a figure of speech. Like a center of gravity, the city attracts all the roads of commerce, all the leaders and thinkers and fortune seekers of the empire, the political and military power. It is the indisputable capital of the world.
House Arrest
Ironically, the greatest spokesman for the Christian faith arrives at his ultimate destination as a prisoner. Paul is exhausted, having just survived a harrowing shipwreck. No doubt the reputation he has gained on the voyage helps convince authorities to treat him leniently. He lives by himself under a kind of house arrest. A soldier is always present, possibly chained to the apostle.
Despite the circumstances, Paul keeps busy. During his very first week in Rome, he calls in Jewish leaders and explains to them the Christian “sect” everyone is talking about. Over the next months and years, Paul gets hours of quiet solitude to work on fond letters to the churches he has left behind.
Life Question:
Do you, like Paul, strive to make the best of bad situations?
Taken from the NIV Student Bible.