Reading: Acts 9-10
And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do(Acts 9:3-6).
In this chapter of Acts, we receive our first in-depth introduction to the man who later goes on to write, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, 1/3 of what we now know as the New Testament. By all accounts, Saul of Tarsus was a man to be feared. He was an influential Jew, a Pharisee educated in the Temple (Acts 22:3), and a Roman citizen by birth (22:27-28). All of this combined made him an influential leader in the movement to exterminate the early Christian Church. He was an approving witness at the stoning of Stephen, and it was his opinion that belief in Christ as the resurrected Son of God was blasphemous and warranted the death penalty. He had made it his life's mission to stamp out the heresy the Apostles were teaching. He was not content with merely running them out of Jerusalem; He wanted them to cease to exist (9:1-2).
As the light shone down from heaven and the voice of the Lord rang out, Saul’s fear would have been palpable. He believed himself to be a godly, righteous man, and he was confident that he was pursuing dangerous, misinformed people working counter to the will of the Lord. Yet, at that moment, on the road to Damascus, Saul was forced to confront the fact that He had it all wrong. Jesus, a man he knew to be dead, appeared to him in His Divine form, proving that the ministry of this new church was true! Saul was struck with the realization that he had not been attacking men at all; he had been persecuting God Himself!
Shaken and blinded, Saul spent three days in prayer and fasting (9:9-11), awaiting the instruction of the Lord. Scripture does not record what thoughts and feelings ran through the mind and heart of Saul during this time, but God confirms his rebirth while speaking to Ananias: 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 (9:15). From the moment of his conception, the Lord had known his plans for Saul, just as He had for Jeremiah centuries before. Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations (Jer. 1:5). There on the road to Damascus, stripped bare of the legalistic religious ideology that had shaped his life up to that point, Saul, at last, answered the call. Humbled before God, he placed his life in His hands, saying, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?
And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are One: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me(Jer. 18:4).
Thought For Today:Once God has illuminated our lives and allowed us to see His truth, we will never be the same again.
Cross Reference:For Acts 10:14: See Lev. 11:4; 20:25; Deut. 14:3,7. Acts 10:34 See Deut. 10:17. Acts 10:38: See Is. 61:1-3.
Word Studies:10:1 centurion = a captain of an Italian troop of 100 men; 10:3 ninth hour = 3 p.m, the usual hour of evening worship among the Jews.
Pray For Staff:Jennifer Palafox • Government Officials: Sen. Jack Reed (RI), Rep. Nicole Maliotakis (NY), Rep. Stephanie Bice (OK), Rep. Monica De La Cruz (TX) • Country: Guinea-Bissau (1,693,398) Western Africa • Major Languages: Portuguese, Crioulo • Religious Freedom • 50% Muslim; 40% Indigenous Beliefs; 10% Christian • Prayer Suggestion: Trust the Lord and ask Him to direct your steps (Ps. 143:8).