Who is that man?

He was a terrible man.  Absolutely one of the most rotten individuals I've ever heard of.  He was angry.  He was jealous.  He was violent.  He was vindictive.  He was just down right not nice!

Who was this man?  He was Saul, or better known to us today as Paul.  You see this man was on his way to pick up some Christians one day and have them thrown into prison, beaten, and potentially even killed.  He was an evil dude, there's really no other way to put it. 

But something happened on the road.  He saw the light - literally! The bible tells us in Acts 9 that Saul was blinded by the light on his way and fell to the ground.  Then he heard Jesus talking to him (mind you Jesus had died, rose, and ascended by now).  Jesus asked him, "Why do you persecute me?"  This is a pretty cool statement because it shows how closely connected Jesus is with his people, the church.  The church was never supposed to be an institution or building.  It was the assembly of God's people living in the world.  Jesus told Saul that when he persecuted the church, he was persecuting Jesus. 

If we skip ahead a bit we meet up with Paul preaching in the synagogue!  This same man who had been vehemently against the church was now preaching the message that the church was founded on.  God alone can work this kind of transformation. 

Today as we go about our daily activities I wonder what kind of lights God will shine on us. I wonder if we'll fall face down and be transformed by them or if we'll simply ignore them and move on.  I wonder what it will take to get the church to start thinking and acting like the church Jesus is defending in Acts 9.  Today perhaps we should pray for reformation - getting back to the basics of church.  Today let's chart a course for getting back to the truth of scripture, the only truth that really matters - Jesus died for all people as a payment for sin, he rose for all people to open heaven for them, and Jesus appeared to thousands of people sharing the message that this gift was for all people.  Today let's live the gift of transformation.

Lord we need to see the light.  Today we pray that you would use us like you used Paul.  Make us bold to share the truth of the gospel with our piece of the world today.  Amen.