Friday, October 10, 2025
Darkness to Light
Paul’s story of conversion in the Bible may be the most memorable conversion story. Before he was saved his name was Saul. Saul of Tarsus was not a kind 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. Once he was on his way to Damascus to find believers so he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem. As he traveled down that dirt road to Damascus he met the Lord in a unforgettable way and was changed forever. In Acts 26, Paul stands before King Agrippa, sharing his dramatic conversion experience on the road to Damascus:
I was traveling to Damascus under these circumstances with authority and a commission from the chief priests. King Agrippa, while on the road at midday, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in Aramaic, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. I asked, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord replied, I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Acts 26:12-18
Saul got up, still blind and his friends led him into Damascus. For the next three days, he was blind and didn’t eat or drink. When his eyes were opened, he was a changed man. He became a zealous witness for the Lord.
We know that Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel, but Jesus tells Paul in this text that he saved him (and us!) for this blindness to be healed.
But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Taking the light of the Gospel into the darkness of the world is our commission as followers of Christ. We have been changed by the light of the Gospel in our hearts. We are to proclaim him and let his light in our hearts shine God’s glory to everyone we can. Through his followers he can open blind eyes so that unbelievers may know that the Kingdom of God has come and believe.
We work with the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of the blind by praying for their eyes to be opened and by speaking the truth of the gospel. We can do this through our testimony just like Paul. People who knew Paul when he was still Saul must have been astonished at the change in him. We don’t all have a salvation experience like Paul but your story is just as important and can be used by God.
May we all have the urgency of Paul to go and take light into darkness, share the gospel, and tell them that the Kingdom of God has come.
