“Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.” Acts 26:16

I stood perplexed before the rows and rows of hundreds of different types and sizes of screws and nails. All of them were made for the purpose of fastening and holding items together. Perplexity turned to frustration as prices for each item varied with each box. I had gone to the store to simply buy a box of 2” screws. I hadn’t realized I was going to need more education before buying.

There were indoor vs outdoor, drywall vs wood, stainless vs treated, phillips vs torx and even blue vs gold and other colors! On top of it all, prices varied according to how many and which type were in the box. I found myself standing and staring in disbelief. How could it be SO difficult to buy a simple item to fasten 2 pieces of wood together. It got even worse when I entered the nail section!

Today’s verse comes from Paul’s story of salvation. He spoke it before King Agrippa because he was under arrest! Having shared the Gospel and his story in Jerusalem, he was almost killed for his testimony. It seemed easier to arrest Paul than to fight the crowd, so Paul was simply defending himself before the King and his important officials. And it almost worked! Ain’t Jesus interesting?

Over 2000 years has found the Church, Christ’s future Bride, as varied and separated as those nails and screws on store shelves. Many different denominations claim the title of being ‘the one TRUE Christian religion.’ I found Paul’s testimony, his ‘get out of jail free’ card, to be the best of all! In it, Jesus calls Paul to Himself to… ”stand up and become a servant and witness for Jesus Christ!”

It’s really that simple. Once I met Jesus, I was arrested and sentenced to death. I agreed to die to myself to allow Jesus to live HIS life THROUGH me. Now, my mission is to stick with, learn, study, apply and spread HIS Word among the many different kinds and types of people in my world. Jesus’ goal is to fasten Himself to them… permanently. I am simply one of many types of fasteners!

Are YOU a fastener in the hands of Jesus? Because He wants you to help Him build His Church!