Word Passion is Pinned on the cork boardIt happens from time to time. I’m reading a passage I am sure I have read before. This time, though, something catches my attention that I have never noticed. Occasionally it is because I may be reading a different translation, and the way the scripture reads brings out a thought or action I had not caught before.

Recently in my morning Bible reading time I have been reading through the Acts of the Apostles. It was the start of Acts 26 when I read a surprising passage. You remember that the Apostle Paul was in prison because the Jewish leaders were plotting against him. King Agrippa was willing to listen to Paul as he made his defense against the charges brought by the Jews.

[blockquote author=”Acts 26:1 (NLT)” link=”” target=”_blank”]Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense. So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense[/blockquote]

There it was… “Paul, gesturing with his hand….” My first thought? Why did God’s Spirit inspire Luke to write that?

Most commentators agree that Paul was chained by one hand to a guard. That left one arm free. One said this action showed, “…how ready he was to embrace the opportunity of pleading his own cause.” Others said it showed the boldness of his speech and to the securing of the attention of his audience. The phrase “boldness of his speech” tells me Paul spoke with passion.

Passion.

One dictionary described passion this way:

Passion is when you put more energy into something than is required to do it. It is more than just enthusiasm or excitement, passion is ambition that is materialized into action to put as much heart, mind body and soul into something as is possible.

It got me thinking about our role as ambassadors for Christ. We sometimes have those key opportunities to share the hope we have in Jesus. Most of the time we are not in “chains” as we speak, though it may be a bit uncomfortable to do so.

Paul, even in literal chains, could not help but gesture in a way that commanded attention and expressed the passion he had for his Lord Jesus. As Peter would write: “And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” (I Peter 3:15 NLT) When we express the hope we have in Christ, do we speak in a way that commands attention and shows our passion?

By the way, it may not be the gesture of your hand. It may be the intensity of your speech, the firmness of your eyes, the expression on your face. It may be the humility of understanding what God has done for us that others see. It may be the love of Christ that shines through as we speak.

Whatever it is, let’s be ready, willing, and able to share the hope we have…the only hope of this world…Jesus…and do so with passion.