Good Morning Friends,
“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out
murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and
asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any
there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as
prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light
from heaven flashed around him. He fell
to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute
me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’
he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you
must do.’” (Acts 9:1-6)
Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek
and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10) That’s why He left heaven and dwelt on
earth as a man. That’s why He went about preaching and doing miracles. That’s
why He gave Himself to be crucified by those who hated Him. All that He did
while on earth was to seek and save the lost. But that work did not stop when
Jesus ascended back into heaven. Even from heaven, Jesus continues to seek and
save the lost.
That’s what He did on the road to Damascus
when He met Saul there. Saul was lost, although he didn’t know it. He thought
he was doing what God wanted him to do. He thought he was following God. Yet,
he was actually opposing God and God’s will. That’s how confused Saul was.
He’d been around Christians before. He’d even
been there when the Jews stoned Stephen to death. He had seen first hand the
sincerity and commitment of the Christians. But no man was going to convince him
he was wrong! Saul was smart enough to out argue any man. He was courageous
enough to keep doing what he was doing no matter how many people tried to convince
him he was wrong. It would take a miracle to turn Saul around!
And that’s how much God loved Saul. God did
what was necessary to turn Saul around -- He stopped him cold on the road to Damascus!
It took that kind of radical action to get Saul’s attention.
Jesus still is seeking and saving the lost. Few
stories are as amazing as Saul’s story, but every story of a person coming to
Christ is a story of how God worked to draw them to Himself. He seeks and saves
the lost – that’s how much He loves them – that’s how much He wants them to be
His!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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