He said, "Who are You,
Lord?" —Acts 9:5
“Through the miracle of
redemption, Saul of Tarsus was instantly changed from a strong-willed and
forceful Pharisee into a humble and devoted bondservant of the Lord Jesus.[…] people
begin coming to God once they stop being religious, because there is only one master of the human heart—
Jesus Christ, not religion. But “Woe is me” if after seeing Him I still will
not obey (Isaiah 6:5 , also see Isaiah 6:1). Jesus will never insist that I
obey […] But when I do this, I am backing away from the recreating power of His
redemption. It makes no difference to God’s grace what an abomination I am, if
I will only come to the light. But “Woe is me” if I refuse the light (see John
3:19-21). CHAMBERS
Saul was really no different than
the fanatic Muslims of today. Jewish
Christians were an abomination to God, as far as Paul understood it. And so, he helped in their killing and
imprisonment. Thinking he was pleasing God in doing so. He would go from city
to city to seek them out. But then, one
day, he met Someone on the road Who radically changed the course of his life
forever. There is so much trouble in this
world today. People expect the world to
do what only Jesus, the master of the human heart, can do. People expect other people to do what does not
come naturally to the lost … to show grace, mercy, acceptance, justice, love toward
others. “Jesus is the answer for the
world today. Besides Him there is no
other. Jesus is the way.” Whether it is social injustice, racial discord
on the world stage, the root cause is the same.
It is a problem of the heart. Don’t
expect good water to come from a bad spring. (James 3:11)
Don’t let the events in the world today surprise you. What you see at work is the sinfulness of
man. Why do we need a police force? It
is certainly not because everyone loves God and each other. No, it is because there is evil in the world,
and that evil is pervasive. And sometimes evil even shows itself in those who
have sworn to protect us from evil.
There is much said in the
Bible about the importance of obedience.
Obedience is a reflection of a heart submitted to God and a life empowered
by God. The problems you see in this world
are not going away until there is a heart change. But, there will never be a heart change in
everyone. So the unavoidable conclusion
is, that until Jesus returns, this turmoil that we see will continue. Does that mean we give up? No. It means that
we continue preach the Truth, we live in a way that proclaims there is a better
Way. We fulfill our purpose. This world will not be saved, but some in the
world will be. I had lunch with a friend
yesterday and he mentioned the story about the boy who was tossing starfish
back in the ocean, one at a time. If you
have met Jesus along the way, like Paul, you must go and tell others, one at a
time. And in the telling, Christ is being
lifted up, and somehow, the Spirit uses that, as part of the salvation of some.
There is an old spiritual that goes; “ If
we ever needed the Lord before, We sure
do need Him now, We sure do need Him now,
Oh Lord, we sure do need Him now. If we
ever needed the Lord before, We sure do need Him now, We need Him every day and
every hour.” Show the world what Jesus looks like, be a light in this dark
place, to the glory of God. CHARLEY
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