… by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.
Summary: Paul wasn’t just sitting on the side of the road when God met up with him. He was on his way to change the world. God stopped him, changed him, and then set him off again in a different direction.
Living can be hard, but dying takes no effort at all. It is what happens after we die that keeps us up at night. So we think about that sometimes, and then our minds drift back to this world and we wonder, “What do I need to be doing today?”
Sometimes we don’t have to wonder. Sometimes our lives are decided for us. I heard a story yesterday* about a refugee from China. His life in China was something he was glad to have escaped. He tells about having been arrested for a minor offense and sentenced to eight years of hard labor. You know the pistachios you buy in the store that are already cracked open? His job was to crack open the nuts. And it wasn’t just an eight-hour day. That is all he did from the moment he woke up until he fell asleep. Cracking nuts. For eight years. Oh, and the only “tools” he had were his fingers.
If you are reading this post, you are one of the millions of people who are blessed to have choices. You get to choose what you are going to do with your life today. Paul had a choice, too. He chose to serve God. The only problem was he was going about it wrong. Tracking down the people who believed in God’s Son, Jesus, and putting them in prison, wasn’t the kind of service God wanted from him. So God straightened him out and set him on a different path.
God wants to do the same for you and me. He wants to put us on the right path. The funny thing is that if we are not moving, we won’t be able to tell if we have changed direction.
Paul was already a servant of God when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was just going about it all wrong. Jesus straightened him out, and Paul charged off in a new direction. This time, he was going in a direction pleasing to God.
Paul changed from being a servant of the Old Covenant to a servant of the New. In today’s passage, he tells us how that change happened: God’s grace and power. God had the power to stop what Paul was doing. He could have killed Paul like we would flick a speck of dust off our shirt sleeve, but he didn’t. Instead, he took the time and effort to straighten Paul out. That is grace.
In a sense, God was a servant to Paul. Instead of doing other things, he took care of Paul’s need to get his head straight. God does the same for us. He took the time to be born a man, suffer death on the cross, and pay for our sins. What are you going to do today?
Application: Tell God, “Thank you!” Then do something for God.
Food for Thought: How is the change God made in Paul different from the change needed in someone obsessed with serving themselves?
*The story I heard can be found at the link below starting about the 2:50 minute mark:
https://rumble.com/v2mqzwi-the-plot-to-save-america-deep-dive-part-1-seth-holehouse.html
How is the change God made in Paul different from the change needed in someone obsessed with serving themselves?
Thinking about it, I believe Paul already had a desire to serve God. Paul already recongized and served God according to the law. but Jesus came and said in Mark 12:30-31 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”
I think Paul leaned into the first part of this more than the second. Jesus helped him through that though.
Someone obsessed with serving themselves doesn’t recognize God or their neighbor. They don’t fear God, and they don’t care about God. I say it like that because I do remember a time that I was afraid of God, but ignored Him, somehow internally hoping it would “all work out.” Then I feared Him, and then I cared about Him. That all was hastened by loving my neighbor. That loving others had enabled me to grow closer to God, along with binding His Word in my heart, and time in His presence in prayer.
Self-centered reliance is such an incredable barrier to overcome. It is a closed door with no handle on our side. When we recognize that door and knock, Jesus has a handle on His side and will open it. We knock (call His name) when we understand we don’t have a handle (figuratively and realistically) on our life.
Thank you, Chris!
Isn’t it wonderful that Jesus patiently knocks at our door?
Paul thought he was serving God. He had the right goal in serving the one true Lord and Master – he just didn’t understand that Jesus is Lord (Acts 9: 5). Once he met the risen Lord, he had his Master.
Someone who is self serving has also identified their master and there is no room for another Lord (Matthew 6: 24).
Thanks Rich!
We do have to choose! Sometimes we can’t see the choice and we think there is only one path, but when our eyes are opened like Paul’s were, we can see the light of God beckoning to us.
05-17-2023, How is the change God made in Paul different from the change needed in someone obsessed with serving themselves?
Paul is an example to us. See Philippians 3:12-21.
All Sins Equal in God’s Eyes, and “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23
Jesus Christ is the one stumbling block common to all mankind. “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” Romans 9:31-33
Paul was no exception. He told himself he was serving a righteous cause as he with great enthusiasm persecuted believers in Christ.
Jesus Christ made Himself real to Paul, and Paul dedicated his life to teaching others the truth regarding sin, righteousness and living in the Son of God. We are all self centered beings transformed into Christ centered beings.
Matthew 12:31, Rejecting the conviction of the Holy Spirit is the one unpardonable sin for all.
Ron,
Great point about the danger of rejecting the Holy Spirit!