Paul
Among the people who saw Jesus, the
Christ, the Living God, the gift made mine, for which I give thanks daily, you, Paul, must be listed. For the Christmas story doesn’t end with Christmas.
Yes, your visitation, your encounter
came later, after the Resurrection, but it lacked nothing in significance.
No, you weren’t on a horse - that
was an artist’s lovely conception. Yours was a simple falling over, being knocked
out by the Lord’s Presence , but yes the light was there and the voice that
only you heard: Why are you persecuting
me?
Killing every Jesus follower,
removing any trace of belief in him was your obsession, your act of religious
fervor, all twisted by error. Until the day you discovered that Jesus Christ is
REAL! I’d love to have seen your face.
Scholar that you were, Paul, you
had to know more. This Jesus as Messiah belief you’d discounted, scoffed at, attempted to destroy. You thought you were learned, hadn’t you studied under a
master?
You needed to study the accounts,
recheck the Old Testament prophecies. Being blinded as you were is unforgettable, inability
to see is clear-cut reality. These facts you couldn’t dispute. Not that you
wanted to any more.
You only desired to know truth, and
then you’d live it with every fiber of your being, for you, Paul, did nothing
halfway.
Any human fear in your heart evaporated,
never to return. Snakes, shipwrecks, bring them on. You were willing and eager to
tell others that you had it all wrong, Jesus Christ is the true God. He really did
die, arise, and go on to prepare eternity for all of us.
You Paul knew, for you experienced an encounter with the living God. So may we all.
Scripture:
Acts and the Letters of Paul
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