IF GOD CAN FORGIVE HIM…
Opening Prayer
My Savior King, You are so good to me.
Read Acts 9:1–9
Saul’s Conversion
9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 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. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!’ (John Newton, 1725–1807, ‘Amazing Grace,’ 1779). What does this line from the famous hymn mean to you?The Bible is very honest about the first Christian leaders. They are not portrayed as faultless superheroes but as flawed and weak, and this is particularly true of Saul. He became a great missionary and theologian, but his past was shocking.
Our passage describes the pre-conversion Saul ‘breathing out murderous threats’ against Christians. Indeed, not being satisfied with simply persecuting believers in Jerusalem (Acts 8:3), Saul traveled more than 130 miles to seize Christians in Damascus too (2). And he showed no mercy: women as well as men were hauled from their homes.
Imagine how distressed their children must have been! Yet such things do not seem to have bothered Saul. After all, this was the same man who watched the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and wholeheartedly approved of his murder (Acts 8:1).
Later Saul would refer to himself as the least of the apostles because of his awful past. He fully recognized that his salvation and ministry were only possible ‘by the grace of God’ (1 Corinthians 15:9, 10). If you struggle to believe in God’s unconditional love for you, remember how Christ forgave and used Saul!
Apply
Is there something in your past you have a hard time believing that God has forgiven? Read 1 John 1:9 and claim its promise today. Can you memorize this verse?
Closing prayer
Dear Lord, thank You that You love me despite my weaknesses and failings. Help that truth to really sink deep into my heart.
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