Almost. How sad and tragic can one little word be? In this case it may have meant an eternal difference.
God had allowed Paul to tell his whole story in the court of Agrippa. He was bold enough that he addressed both Agrippa and Festus personally. Although they may hot have agreed with what he said, the both agreed that is Paul had not appealed to Caesar he could have gone free. Little did they know that there was greater purpose at hand. But, back to “almost.”
At one stage of the conversation Agrippa told Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” We will leave the debate about how much we do and how much the Holy Spirit does for the true Bible scholars to discuss, but our point is this – Paul had done all he could. The amazing thing is that “all” he had done was tell about his own salvation and the impact it had. It is obvious that he had a job to do and the Holy Spirit did the rest.
We don’t know what happened to Agrippa’s soul. Perhaps he was saved later. We do know this – Paul was faithful in proclaiming the gospel. Through his proclamation of God’s word Agrippa came to the point where he had to make a decision. Sadly, perhaps tragically, Agrippa said, “almost.”
I was challenged by this. How often do I even bring a person to the point where they have the chance to say, “Almost?” I am not responsible for a change of heart, but I should be always ready to get folks to the point where they can at least say, “Almost.” If not, am I really doing my part?
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