“According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” 1 Timothy 1:11–13 The life of Saul of Tarsus underwent a radical transformation after he had an encounter with Jesus Christ on his way to Damascus. After persecuting and murdering believers in Jerusalem, Paul got permission to go more than one hundred miles to hunt down a group of Christians who had fled there for safety. It was while he was on that trip that the man who would become the Apostle Paul was converted. Blinded by the light he saw from Heaven, he was led to Damascus where a Christian named Ananias lived. God told this man to go to Paul and lay hands on him so that his vision would be restored. Because of the fearsome reputation of Saul, Ananias was somewhat reluctant to carry out this mission. “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Though Saul had been a violent opponent of Christianity, God had a plan for him to become a witness of the gospel. While most of us never reached that level of open opposition to God and His work, we were still enemies of—on the opposing side of—the Lord, and children of the devil when we were saved. Only because of the grace of God was salvation offered to us. And because of that amazing grace, we should be diligent to witness to all those we can reach. The salvation message is too wonderful a treasure for us to hoard it. Today’s Renewal Principle: Our salvation is not just for our own benefit—we are to share with others the same Good News we received.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 16:06:24 +0000
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