Submitted by Lara Cook
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. Acts 9:3-5
Saul of Tarsus was a horrible
man. He hated God, Christians, and made
it his life purpose to persecute and kill Christians. His reputation preceded him and everyone knew
who he was and what he stood for. At one
point, he asked the high priest for letters to the synagogues at Damascus so
that if he found any believers he could arrest them and bring them to
Jerusalem. As he traveled down that dirt
road to Damascus, he, and the men travelling with him, were suddenly blinded by
a bright light. It knocked him right to
the ground and he heard a voice saying… Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And
he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Then the voice told Paul
to get up and go into the city where he would be told what to do next. The men that were travelling with Saul were
speechless. They heard it too but could
not see anyone. Saul got up, still
blinded and they led him into Damascus.
For the next three days, he was blind and he didn’t eat or drink. When his eyes were opened, he became a
zealous witness for the Lord. When God
wants to get our attention, He will take whatever measures are necessary!
If the amazing love and mercy of God can forgive and look past the
horrible sins of a man who murdered and persecuted His servants and change him
into something new, I know He can look past my horrible self. There are days when I long for the blinding
light of the Savior to strike me and take everything else, every other
distraction, away so that I am focused only on Him. You see, even though I know better, sometimes
I am so covered up in wrong that I cannot turn myself in his direction, just
like Saul. God knows this about us and
He will give us the opportunity to do it ourselves but when He needs to, He
will rescue us. For Saul, it took an event, a blinding experience that knocked
him to his knees and kept him down for three days. Three days of blindness and no food or
drink. God wanted his full attention
with no distractions. I guarantee he was
focused on God during that time.
When God changed Saul, He began to be referred to as Paul in the Bible. Many Bible scholars say that God changed his
name when he changed his heart. Whether
God changed Saul’s name or not, it is a perfect example of how we are a new
creation in Christ. A name change is a
sign that something is different, that something new has happened or will
happen. A name change is a fresh start,
a do-over, a re-invention. Saul had a
complete change in his life from one extreme to the other. He turned and literally went in the opposite
direction. What a graphic example of
repentance. God calls us to not only
confess our sin, but to turn away from it.
Unfortunately, Sin also changes our name. It changes our name to things like liar,
cheater, addict, thief, murderer, adulterer, etc… Unfortunately, these names
people don’t quickly forget after God has changed us. Sin makes us into something we don’t want to
be and it changes the way people see us. It makes us cross lines and compromise
values that we never thought we would waver on.
It takes us places we would never go on our own, into the thick,
suffocating, miry, clay. But even there,
God can reach us and pull us out completely and blind us with His great
conviction laced with mercy and love. This
is the character of our God: He redeems, rebuilds, renames. As He disciplines,
He also restores. Praise God we are never too far gone for the reach of His
restoration!
Scripture to Claim:
Scripture to Claim:
They only were hearing it said, “He
who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And
they glorified God because of me. Galatians 1:23-24 ESV
