S146P6 – Moments of clarity: Saul
Acts 9:3-8
Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
The man was a persecutor and killer of Christians who operated under the guise of religious zeal. He was a man on a mission like every person who ever has tried to stop the kingdom of God from advancing. The man’s history and reputation preceded him, which is evidenced in subsequent verses in this chapter. [26-28] Such had been his hatred and violence toward the followers of Christ that they genuinely feared him. That is how his story starts, at least the portion we have been shown. An enemy of Christ and his kingdom in such an overt way, this man was not ambivalent about Christianity. He worked toward destroying it. Yet, we see here that even he could be changed.
Something of which we must keep reminding ourselves (at least I know I must keep reminding myself) is that we are all equally enemies of God from the outset. We can look at some people and think that they are more evil than others because their sins appear to be so much worse, but we all start off on the wrong side. Someone like Saul actually elicited fear in Christians, and they had to be convinced that he was not against them. What I see is that they would rather run from him than try to reach him. It is likely they never imagined that he could be transformed by Christ, but here we are. It should make us reconsider keeping silent because we think a word of truth might be wasted on someone.
I am sure that Saul’s transformation was a very surprising and encouraging event for the believers of his day. If Saul could become a brother of theirs, then who could possibly be beyond reach? The power of the Lord to move and change a person was on great display in that man. It should be just as encouraging for us today to read his story. Each one of us will encounter those who appear too far gone to reach, but that is not for us to judge. Let us seek to have a hand in such salvation stories believing that even greater transformations can come. Father, keep us hopeful that every word of truth we speak would have the power to lead a soul to Christ no matter the audience.