The Lord speaking to Ananias after Paul's conversion: "15. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings and the children of Israel. 16. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake."
Old Testament prophets had mentioned that the Lord would reach out to the Gentiles. When Christ came, He broadened the scope of God's concern by going into Samaria and into Gentile country. Though the Jews did not wish to share this glory with Gentiles, it was inevitable that it would happen. How was Jesus going to reach the Gentiles? One would think that He would find a fine, upstanding Gentile, convert him and send him to his own people. This is not what God did. He found the meanest Jew that He could find, converted him and sent him to witness and minister to Gentiles. Saul of Tarsus had wreaked havoc on the Christian church. His aim was to stamp out this movement before it infected the whole world. He made a fateful decision to go to Damascus, arrest Christians and send them bound by chains to Jerusalem to be tried for heresy. On the way to Damascus, the Lord Jesus Himself stopped Saul, and converted him. Just that quickly, a hater of the Christian faith became a follower of the Christian faith, and became one of its most eloquent defenders. From chapter 11 until the end of the Book of Acts, the book becomes a chronicle of Paul's work among the Gentiles. In the end, he wrote one-third of the books of the New Testament, and much of our Christian doctrine is based on his letters to churches and individuals. Only God could accomplish something like this. Why am I writing this? I want to point out that God knew what he was talking about when He inspired Isaiah to write that, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways." (This is not a direct quote. Let's just call it a "Beauchamp" translation.) We should not expect God to do as we would do, or as we would want Him to do. God does things that only He can do, and uses people that only He can use to carry out His purposes. Some of my high school friends were amazed when I became a preacher. Frankly, I was a little amazed myself, though God had been dealing with me since I was twelve years old. I humbly submit that this was God's choice for my life. As you read this, you might wonder if God can use you to aid in carrying out His purposes. Indeed, He can use you. If He could use Paul and if He can use me, He can certainly use you. Listen for God's voice in your life and let HIm lead you to what He wants you to do. Think about it. Selah Bro. Joe
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|