Today's Scripture
Conversion – Acts 9:1-19
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: Acts 9-10(CEB)
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
What does this passage mean to me/us
Saul was a diehard Jew. He grew up in a rigorous practice to conserve his tradition. The disciples who followed Jesus was a treat to his tradition, and therefore he concluded to do what he thought was right. It is interesting to see how he might have thought he was doing this for the sake of the Lord, but he was doing it in his own ways.
When he encounters Jesus, he says, “Who are you, Lord?”
I see an identity crisis in Saul. His Lord should have been God alone. And we see how in his actions, he himself became his own Lord. When we encounter the true light, everything he was doing might have been confusing.
Out of fear, lost in his thoughts, reverence in front of the light, he might have cried out, “Who are you, Lord?”
Finding who is true Lord is the start of the transformation.
Who is your true Lord?
Prayer
Lord, you are my Lord. In Christ name, we pray, AMEN.
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