A LIFE TRANSFORMED

If you were to vote for the person “most likely never to become a Christian” whom would you choose?

If you had lived in the first century, you probably would have chosen Saul of Tarsus—and you wouldn’t have been alone. Saul (later known by his Roman name, Paul) was an extremely zealous Jew who believed that those who followed Jesus were blaspheming God.

Saul had to face the fact that he had been wrong all of his life when Jesus came to him on the road to Damascus.

Let's take a closer look at this story:

SO WHO WAS SAUL?

Let’s look at this powerful story of a very unlikely convert.

We first come across Saul in the book of Acts in the New Testament. He was a devout Jew who was doing everything he possibly could to wipe out this new movement of Christianity.

The Bible says that he went everywhere, dragging Christian men and women out of their homes and throwing them into prison. (Acts 8:3).

But an amazing thing happened to him, which turned his life around. He was on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians.

As he approached the city, a bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around him, striking him blind. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ (Acts 9:4).

It was the voice of Jesus! Jesus told Saul that when he was ill-treating the Christians it was really Him that was being persecuted. Jesus then instructed Saul to get up and go to Damascus where he was to meet with a believer named Ananias.

THE REST, AS THEY SAY, IS HISTORY!

Saul found himself dramatically changed by this powerful encounter with Jesus. 

He changed from someone who passionately and murderously hated Christians, to someone who accepted Jesus into his own life and then tells others all about him.

He even started using a different name – Paul.

This encounter turned his life around. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and became a powerful messenger for God – one of the most well-known and successful early missionaries in the Bible.

THINK INWARDLY

When Saul became a Christian everything changed for him – even his name!

Think about your life:

* Our conversion experience does not have to be as dramatic as Saul’s.

* Sometimes God does break into a person’s life in a spectacular manner

* Sometimes (perhaps more often) conversion is a quiet experience or something that grows within us over time.

What we do need, though, is a personal encounter with Jesus.

Are there things we think we need to change in order to follow Jesus more wholeheartedly?

Think of someone you know that you think is unlikely to become a Christian. Spend some time now praying that Jesus will speak to that person and turn their life around, like he did with Saul.

Or, maybe that someone is you!

Look at this modern day testimony - FROM MAFIA BOSS TO CHRIST

Lord,

We are amazed how you can transform lives. Thank you that this same saving power that Saul encountered on the road to Damascus can still work in us today. Help us to know this same Jesus for ourselves.

Amen