Tuesday May 7th, 2019 Acts 26:1,12-29
"[Saul] asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' The Lord answered, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.'" (verse 15)
What a turnaround in a person’s life! Saul was zealous in persecuting Christians. He stood on the edge of the crowd holding coats while they stoned Stephen to death. In our time, he could have been charged as an accomplice to murder.
For reasons beyond our knowing, the Lord saw that Saul could be of great benefit to the young Christian community. And so it was that, on the road to Damascus, Saul was blinded by a light greater than the sun. Jesus told Saul he had been appointed to testify to this experience, drawing both Jews and Gentiles from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the forgiveness of sins. In our text, Paul, as he came to be known, is explaining his conversion experience to King Agrippa.
Our lesson reminds us that no matter what our shortcomings or our past sins and failures, God has the ability to make great use of us. It is indeed possible for people to turn from lives of criminality, substance abuse, or open defiance of the faith into lives of Christian service and witness.
God of new life, forgive my past failings and lead me into the joyful pathway of your service. Amen. — JRG
Contributed by A changed life
What a turnaround in a person's life! Saul was zealous in persecuting Christians. He stood on the edge of the crowd holding coats while they stoned Stephen to death. In our time, he could have been charged as an accomplice to murder.
For reasons beyond our knowing, the Lord saw that Saul could be of great benefit to the young Christian community. And so it was that, on the road to Damascus, Saul was blinded by a light greater than the sun. Jesus told Saul he had been appointed to testify to this experience, drawing both Jews and Gentiles from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the forgiveness of sins. In our text, Paul, as he came to be known, is explaining his conversion experience to King Agrippa.
Our lesson reminds us that no matter what our shortcomings or our past sins and failures, God has the ability to make great use of us. It is indeed possible for people to turn from lives of criminality, substance abuse, or open defiance of the faith into lives of Christian service and witness.
