Spirit and Life Devotional is a daily publication by Pastor Chinaemerem Ibezim, senior pastor of Able Ministers Chapel, a church based in Calabar, Cross River State.
[pull_quote_center]”Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him.” Acts 24:26[/pull_quote_center]
Paul was being tried, and because he refused to bribe the governor he was left in prison for two years and another person tried his case. Many of us would have simply given the bribe.
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines a bribe as money or favour given or promised in order to influence the judgement or conduct of a person in a position of trust. Exodus 23:8 says, “And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.” And Proverbs 17:23 says, “A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back To pervert the ways of justice.”
There’s no difference between the one who gives a bribe and the one who receives a bribe: both are partners in crime. We should be people of integrity. Let’s start doing things right; let’s be patient; let’s put our trust in God; let’s endure, and let’s be contented. Amen.
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