"At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.
And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."
Acts 26:13-14
This is part of the story of Saul, later renamed Paul, who originally fights against the church and then after this vision, converts and works for the church. This is him telling the story of his conversion, and I can't even imagine how it would feel to have Christ come down to talk to us and ask us why we are fighting against him. ... And yet, that is often exactly what we are doing, sometimes ignorantly like Saul/Paul, but way too often purposely, prioritizing our desires before those of God or others.
God chastises us sometimes, often not as dramatically as with Saul, but enough so that we can feel lost, rejected, or too far away from God to make a connection. It can feel like a permanent rejection or a wall between us and heaven. However, God never goes anywhere. His hand is always outstretched to us. It is we who have to break down *our* barriers, mentally and spiritually, in order to access heaven and speak with God. Like Saul, we need to repent. That is the barrier that we have to overcome. It can be a huge one, too, because, like Saul, we've been doing what *we* thought was right and it is hard to admit that we are wrong and we need to change, and then even harder sometimes to actually do it.
Today, let's accept God's chastisement and repent. Like Saul, let's change our lives to accommodate God and the truth that he shows us. Let's repent and change our ways, thus dispelling the barriers between ourselves and peace.
And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."
Acts 26:13-14
This is part of the story of Saul, later renamed Paul, who originally fights against the church and then after this vision, converts and works for the church. This is him telling the story of his conversion, and I can't even imagine how it would feel to have Christ come down to talk to us and ask us why we are fighting against him. ... And yet, that is often exactly what we are doing, sometimes ignorantly like Saul/Paul, but way too often purposely, prioritizing our desires before those of God or others.
God chastises us sometimes, often not as dramatically as with Saul, but enough so that we can feel lost, rejected, or too far away from God to make a connection. It can feel like a permanent rejection or a wall between us and heaven. However, God never goes anywhere. His hand is always outstretched to us. It is we who have to break down *our* barriers, mentally and spiritually, in order to access heaven and speak with God. Like Saul, we need to repent. That is the barrier that we have to overcome. It can be a huge one, too, because, like Saul, we've been doing what *we* thought was right and it is hard to admit that we are wrong and we need to change, and then even harder sometimes to actually do it.
Today, let's accept God's chastisement and repent. Like Saul, let's change our lives to accommodate God and the truth that he shows us. Let's repent and change our ways, thus dispelling the barriers between ourselves and peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment