Poor Trades

I was reading Acts and one thing that stood out to me is Felix. I’ve never really given him much thought until I read this one verse “As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said ‘That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you’” Acts 24:25. That is basically Felix-speak for “Hey Paul, what makes you think you can tell me how to live my life, I can change any time I want to, I just don’t want to right now.” At this point Paul has already gone on many missionary journeys, even to the pagan Greece. Then he told the Elders that he must go to Jerusalem where he was arrested and put in jail for a long while. And now Felix, the governor who is “well acquainted with the way” vs.22, wants to speak to him. While I haven’t had any outbursts of yelling at people about where they get the right to lecture me, I have held back a few areas of my life from God. Hey it’s just a few right? Not according to God, Jesus said in Mathew 5:29 that “if you right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away”. Wow that’s tough to swallow, but think of it God is two things, our creator and infinitely good, so for one it is in our own best interest to drop the things that get between us and Him because He knows us best and what is best for us. And also, because He is so good isn’t He worth it? Felix didn’t get it that he was, as C.S. Lewis described it, trading a vacation at the beach for a day in the sandbox.