Acts 26:12-23

Summary retelling of Acts 26:12-23

               

Paul then moves on to talk about his conversion story and his trip to Damascus.  He discusses how a bright light shone around him and how the voice of Jesus spoke from out of the light.  Jesus asks Paul (Saul) why he is persecuting Jesus.  After Paul asks Jesus who He is, Jesus tells Paul to get up.  Jesus tells Paul that He has appointed Paul as His servant and witness.  Jesus tells Paul that he will be delivered from both the Jews and the Gentiles as he goes about trying to help people turn from darkness to light.  All of this is done so that through Paul people might understand God’s forgiveness and know what it is like to be sanctified in Jesus.  Paul then goes on to explain to Herod Agrippa that he was seized for being obedient to the vision and speaking to repentance.  Paul finishes by explaining to Herod Agrippa that he has proclaimed what the prophets said would happen: the Messiah would come, suffer, and rise from the dead to proclaim hope to the world. 

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I am always haunted by Jesus’ question.  “Why are you persecuting me?”  Note that technically, Paul never met Jesus in the flesh.  Paul never voted to harm Jesus.  What Paul did was to persecute Jesus’ followers.  The point of all of this is that what we do to the followers of Jesus we also do to Him.  When we persecute one another in the faith, we persecute Jesus directly.

Does that cause you to stop and think for a second?  What about all the people who are genuinely worshiping God but doing it in a manner that is foreign to you?  Do you make fun of them and the way they have constructed their faith?  If so, aren’t you really making fun of and persecuting Jesus?

Second Thought:

Jesus clearly tells Paul that he is to be a servant of Jesus.  He is to be the hands and the feet of the will of God.  God has chosen him to take a very important message into some very difficult places.  God has set Paul on a course that will be challenging, but it is at the request of God Himself!

Is it important to realize that God has a course of life picked out for us?  Why is it important to understand the personal nature of God’s call for each of us?

Third Thought:

Jesus talks to Paul about forgiveness and sanctification.  Notice the order.  Forgiveness comes first, sanctification comes after forgiveness.  Also, while we know about forgiveness, we don’t often know about sanctification.  This is a word that means “to be made holy.”  It is a process that takes time.  It is a process that God does in us.  We (the object) are the thing being sanctified, not the cause for the sanctification.  Jesus is the cause.

Why is it important to be forgiven?  Why is it important to understand that sanctification is a process?

Passage for Tomorrow: Acts 26:24-32