Acts Chapter 26: Verses 9-19 (NIV Translation)
“I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities. “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.”
Paul was so convinced that those who were spreading the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus were wrong, that in his own words he became obsessed with persecuting them. He would not listen to their explanations, and believed that he was right; indeed, that in persecuting Christians he was acting on God’s behalf. That is until he had a personal encounter with Jesus who gave him his true calling – to spread the very news he’d tried to prohibit.
But as a follower of Jesus, Paul learned not to be led by his emotions, but instead by the Holy Spirit. The harsh zeal was replaced by a compassionate, yet still focused compulsion to share what he now knew to be true.
We need to be careful that we are not led by our emotions as we share our faith, but allow the Holy Spirit to be the one to lead us and tell us what to say. We also need to deal compassionately with those who will zealously argue that we’re wrong. The Holy Spirit will show us how to respond when we are challenged in this way. After all, we may be dealing with another Paul, and look what God achieved through him.
Dear Lord,
Thank You for Paul’s obedience to his commission, and the transformation You wrought in His life. May I be willing to be led by the Holy Spirit to share Your truth boldly, but not in my own strength but Yours. I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.