“Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on [Jesus Christ’s] name?”
– Acts 9:21
About a hundred years ago, the story goes, there was an old farmer who lived with his family in the middle of nowhere. One day they climbed into their horse-drawn buggy and headed into the big city to take care of some important business. When they got there, the farmer parked his buggy in front of a massive building. He turned to his youngest son and said, “Little Johnny, you can come with me if you want. But the rest of you stay here. We won’t be long.”
Johnny jumped at the chance to go inside the huge building with his dad. Inside, the receptionist directed them to the elevator that would take them to the fifth floor. The farmer and his son stood in front of the elevator, bewildered. After a few minutes, they saw a little old lady shuffle into the elevator by herself. She stepped inside, turned and faced the farmer and his son, and the doors closed. About 30 seconds later, the doors re-opened, and a gorgeous young woman stepped out of the elevator. INCREDIBLE! A decrepit old woman went in, and a beautiful young woman came out. So, the farmer told his son, "Quick,—go get your Ma!"
That farmer was pretty shallow. He wanted to trade his wife in for a newer model. It never even crossed the old codger’s mind to step into the elevator himself to become a better man for her. But honestly, you and I aren’t very different from that farmer. We work much harder trying to get the people AROUND us to change than we do trying to change OURSELVES.
Well, some two thousand years ago, a man stepped into God’s elevator and allowed himself to be radically changed: the Apostle Paul. In a matter of moments, Paul went from destroying churches to building them. He went from exterminating Christians to nourishing them. He went from hating Jesus to loving Him.
In Acts 8, Saul was a religious zealot who hated Jesus Christ—so much that he tried to eradicate the name of Jesus from the lips of Christians around the world. He looked on in approval at the stoning death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. He arrested as many Christians as he could, often campaigning to have them executed. Saul hated Christians with a passion.
But that all changed in Acts 9 when Saul met Jesus Christ. He was knocked flat on the road to Damascus, temporarily blinded. He gave his life to Christ and was baptized. The next thing people knew, he was proclaiming the name of Jesus in the synagogues. Saul, the man who had been bent on getting rid of Christians, had become the Apostle Paul, trying to make more Christians. Within about 30 years, Paul traveled about 10,000 miles, helping to plant dozens of churches, and wrote half the books of the New Testament. Those books have led hundreds of millions of people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul changed the world. But before Paul could change the world, Jesus Christ had to first change HIM.
I’d like to share three powerful life lessons from Paul’s transformed life.
Life Lesson #1: Even the greatest Christians have checkered pasts. No matter what you’ve done, no matter how far you’ve strayed from God, there is hope for you in Christ. If you’ll let Him, God will forgive you. God’s grace is greater than our disgrace.
Lesson #2: God doesn’t just SAVE hell-bent sinners. He RECRUITS them to change the world.
Lesson #3: You have precious little time to impact the lives around you. So, hit the ground serving. Finish strong. In Paul’s own eyes, he started out as the worst of sinners. But he sure did finish well. In just 30 short years, he revolutionized the world by spreading the Gospel. Once he made up his mind to give Jesus Christ his all, he fought the good fight and finished the race strong. And so can you!
Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church, meeting Sundays at 8:30 and 10 a.m. at 16209 Kamana Road in Apple Valley. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.
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