Passage of the Day - November 22, 2010

Acts 9:1-19

¹Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,

 ²and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

 ³As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;

 ⁴and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

 ⁵And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

 ⁶but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do."

 ⁷The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

 ⁸Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.

 ⁹And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

 ¹⁰Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord."

 ¹¹And the Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying,

 ¹²and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight."

 ¹³But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem;

 ¹⁴and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name."

 ¹⁵But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

 ¹⁶for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake."

 ¹⁷So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

 ¹⁸And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;

 ¹⁹and he took food and was strengthened.

God can and does save anyone and work through them for His glory.  This truth has some implications.  First and foremost it is a witnessing tool.  Saul (Paul) wanted to destroy Christianity.  He saw it as an emerging heretical threat that could lead Jews astray.  He wanted to round up all Christians and bring them to Jerusalem to be stoned or worse.  However, God chose him to spread His Good News throughout the Roman Empire.  This fact can show that not only can God save them from their sins, no matter what, He will use that person in mighty and powerful ways.  Perhaps we focus too much time trying to win theological arguments or wearing people down into submission to Christ.  Instead, we should be offering new lives with new purposes.

Second, there are many “conversion” stories that we hear of, some real, some not.  However, we don’t really know, do we?  Not at least until we see the fruit on a daily basis.  Jeffrey Dahmer “converted” in prison and was subsequently murdered.  We never got a chance to see if this conversion was authentic by its fruit or not.  Therefore, we shouldn’t dismiss it as an impossibility.  We shouldn’t doubt or be frustrated about the conversions of those we deem unworthy, but rather be joyful that God’s kingdom may have advanced into a heart of darkness and despair and saved a soul.  As Christians, we don’t truly know the evil we could have been capable of without Christ.