Read It, Learn It,
Live It, Share It
“And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace
would no longer be grace.” – Romans 11:6
Day and
night he studied, he poured himself into his learning and committed himself to
excel like no one that had come before him.
The educators were astounded by his depth of knowledge and his ability
to quickly adapt and learn from their teachings. A competitive spirit ran through him, which
only added to his ability to succeed.
Where others would tire and give up, he kept going, he kept moving
forward and he was never shy about ensuring those around him knew it. By no stretch of the imagination was he a shy
individual, no quite the opposite. His
ego and pride would get in the way of his acceptance into most circles of
friends at the local gathering spot. He
was a “by the book” rule follower and wanted very clear direction as to what
was required to be the best. If he could
fully embrace the requirement, it made it measurable and manageable on how to
achieve it.
He graduated University far ahead of every other in his class, and looked at
the world before him as his new challenge.
Nothing could stop him from reaching his goals and achieving perfection
in everything he chose to pursue. In the
dark of night he was brought into counsel with his elders to plan and
strategize and learn of their ways.
There was an uprising amongst their people and it had to be
eliminated. It threatened everything
they stood for, everything they had built and held as truth would be abolished. For generations and generations their ways
had been carried forth and now sat on the precipice of being overturned. It must be put to an end.
Saul of Tarsus, was within the circle of leaders in the Jewish counsel. His knowledge of the scriptures and the
covenants were perfectly in line with theirs and he had demonstrated the
willingness to do whatever it took to uphold the laws of God, passed down from their
ancestors. He went as far as necessary,
even to the point of killing those who believed in this new thing. He led the charges against these Christians,
held the cloaks and observed of those taking action against these martyrs for
their cause. For this rebellious lot had
been preaching and teaching that this one called Christ was the answer to
salvation, and that mankind could not achieve glorious righteousness and
acceptance by the Father but through Him.
To the Pharisees and Sadducees of the day, this was blasphemous and
punishable by death, according to the law.
Saul, found himself at the front of that line of scripture filled, law
abiding Jewish leaders of the day. Fully
prepared to extinguish this group of rebels from the earth, in the name of
upholding the law of Yahweh.
You see, in the eyes of these Jewish leaders, there were strict processes to be
followed to receive forgiveness from the Father. There were sacrifices that must be brought to
the alter, and penance to pay for every wrong doing. For in their eyes, salvation was only
available to those who followed God’s laws perfectly and abided by their
teachings and their intercession. This
man, Jesus, from Nazareth had been teaching the children of God about love,
mercy and forgiveness that could be received directly. He made the Kingdom of God available to
everyone, even the Samaritans and the Gentiles.
Now, having put him to death, these followers of his continued to preach
and spread his gospel of heavenly grace and acceptance.
“Saul, Saul – why do you persecute Me?”
he heard plain and clearly as he rode along the path that day. Falling to
the ground, Saul, was in the presence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; “I am
Jesus, the One you are persecuting.”
This he had not prepared for.
This he had not studied at University or learned from the scrolls or
from the Pharisees he communed with. He
was confronted by the One they had killed on the cross. He had heard the stories that Jesus was not
dead, but had risen from the grave. They
all had heard the stories, but none of them could have imagined the stories to
be true. Yet, here He was, speaking to
Saul, plain as day. Saul had come into
His presence and would be forever changed.
Saul of Tarsus, accepted Christ that day in an experience that would forever
change the world. He later became Paul, the
Apostle. Through his knowledge of the
scriptures, the experiences of his life and the passion, conviction and
determination that God had placed in him at birth; he became God’s
evangelist. For the remaining years of
his life, he would travel the entire Mediterranean basin, teaching and
preaching of God’s grace and love to all mankind. He had come to the realization that despite
our feeble attempts to live perfectly and abide by every law, rule and
guideline we cannot achieve salvation and sanctification, but by the blood of
Jesus Christ. He fell deep into the knowledge
of God’s grace and mercy; and spent his remaining days living from day to day
in that grace with one purpose, to share it with every soul he met.
Are you waiting for your personal intervention before you take action? There is no act that you can perform to gain
more acceptance or to win God’s love.
You already have it, simply by believing in His Son, Jesus Christ. You simply must accept the grace and
redemption that has been bought and paid for.
You must make the choice.
©
Sondove Enterprises, 2012
For an archive of Daily Thoughts go to: http://www.10minutereader.com
