TuesdayJanuary
9,8
Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in
Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our
Jewish laws and customs. I became very
zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today. And
I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both
men and women and throwing them in prison.
The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is
so. For I received letters from them to
our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the followers of the
Way from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished. “As I was on the road, approaching Damascus
about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me. I
fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are
you persecuting me?’ “‘Who are you,
lord?’ I asked. “And the voice
replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting.’ The people with me saw the light but didn’t
understand the voice speaking to me. “I
asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “And
the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told
everything you are to do.’ “I was
blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my
companions. A man named Ananias lived
there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all
the Jews of Damascus. He came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother
Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very
moment I could see him! “Then he told
me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the
Righteous One and hear him speak. For
you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard. What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the
name of the Lord.’ Acts 22:3-16(NLT)
Saul thought he had it all going in the right direction; he was
wrong. As the chief persecutor of Jesus’
followers he was simply following the established tradition of two thousand
years of Abraham’s tribe. Outsiders were
only welcome if they worshipped like Saul had learned to do at the feet of
Gamaliel. You have to follow the rules!
But then Jesus appeared in a blinding light on the Damascus Road and sent
Saul’s life spinning and crashing in a completely different direction. Meeting God face to face will do that! Saul got up from that meeting with a new name
(Paul), and a new direction; the chief persecutor of Jesus became His most ardent
and effective missionary. Paul went from
being a go-along, up-and-coming star in the ranks of the system, to a thorn in
the side of the establishment. In a few
years Paul’s resume’ included turning the theological world on its ear:
Paul and
Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are
here disturbing our city, too. Acts
17:6b(NLT)
It’s a somewhat easy life if you simply bow to tradition. All the thinking has been done by smart
people, and it’s in writing…all you have to do is follow that yellow brick
road, and you’ll be safe. The problem
with that is God does not call us to live a safe, easy life; God calls for disciples
who will be courageous, willing to die
to self so the world will always be confronted with the difference
between dying in a worldly established system and living victoriously in God’s Kingdom
of Christ.
And that’s the rub for me; I hate
confrontation with a passion. But that
is exactly what Christ calls us to be for him, confronters of sin, hatred,
greed, and wherever the oppression of evil rears its head. To paraphrase Kermit the Frog who said it isn’t easy being green…frankly,
it ain’t easy being His
sometimes.
For You
Today
If
you hate confrontation as much as I do, but you love Christ and want to serve
Him, buckle-up; it’s going to be a long, bumpy ride, because learning to serve
a God who confronts evil will never happen in the schoolhouse of your comfort
zone! That dog never did hunt!
You chew on that as
you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!
