October 24
Bible Reading: Acts 22:17-21
Acts 22:21, “And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
Paul’s defense before the angry mob was his testimony of how Jesus intervened in his life. He’d been a zealous persecutor of Christians, but then Jesus found him and turned his life in an about-face direction. Whereas he previously sought Christians to lock them up, God then called him to go far away and tell others about Jesus. How amazing is the transformative power of the Lord Jesus!
No earthly person or committee would have chosen Saul for the task of missionary service. Consider his resume. He’d hated Christians and worked to imprison them. By his own testimony, “(he) persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it” (Galatians 1:13). All his friends were Christian-haters. Christians knew of his reputation and stayed clear of him. How was he to work with them? His commission to missionary service came just after his conversion (Acts 9:15), before he’d gained any experience. Take that resume to any missionary committee and there’d be a quick and final rejection. But God chose Saul on purpose to prove a point, and called him to serve at the Apostle to the Gentiles (2 Corinthians 4:7).
His example proves a couple of things. If God can save a man like Saul, then God can save anybody. Paul said so himself: “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16). Secondly, if God could use a man like Saul (Paul), “the foremost” of sinners and “least of the apostles,” (1 Timothy 1:15; 1 Corinthians 15:9), then God can prepare and equip anyone to serve Him. God’s got some places for you to go and share the good news, be it close at hand or far away. The question is not your ability (He can enable you), but your availability. Are you heeding His call?
“It is always good to go where the Lord wants us to go and do what the Lord wants us to do.”—Jack Andrews
GO
Go ye therefore and teach all nations
Go, go, go
Go ye therefore and teach all nations
Go, go, go
Baptizing them in the name of the Father
And Son and Holy Ghost
Go, go, go
If you love Me, really love Me
Feed My sheep
If you love Me, really love Me
Feed My sheep
And lo, I’ll be with you forever and ever
Until the ends of the world
Go, go, go
Go ye therefore and teach all nations
Go, go, go
Go ye therefore and teach all nations
Go, go, go
Baptizing them in the name of the Father
And Son and Holy Ghost
Go, go, go
Go, go, go
Text and music: Leon Patillo; arranged by Eugene Thomas; copyright 1986 Word Music
LookingtoJesus 