Futile Freedom

“Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭26:32‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.26.32.nkjv

The decision of the Agrippa council that listened to Paul's defence of his faith posed a challenge to the pursuit of purpose in life. Pleasure-driven pursuits often override most decision criteria including career choices, marital considerations, business partners, choice of accommodation or residency, etc. The written or unwritten checklists mostly include 'the average salary for fresh graduates in the career, the industry, the economy, etc'; 'life expectancy ratios of citizens'; 'standard of living'; 'prospect of the proposal, partner, project, etc'; and the list grows with no end. While an honest consideration of these criteria is not necessarily wrong, the temptation to ignore or misplace the central purpose for human existence is high, especially when pleasure takes the primary consideration over purpose in life's pursuits. But, what's wrong with Paul's pursuit of freedom in Caesarea, instead of his appeal to Caesar Augustus in Rome? The truth is that option of freedom in Caesarea wasn't actually before Paul, but merely a challenge of his faith in God. When he made the choice of appeal, only the option of returning to Jerusalem was offered. The pursuit of God's will in life always come with challenge of faith, but the righteous are encouraged to be single-minded on the unfailing promises of God. Therefore, freedom outside the pursuits of God's revealed will and way in life is sincerely futile.