Thought from today’s Bible reading from Acts 9-10.
When Saul left for Damascus, he was an enemy of Jesus and His church. After the Lord appeared to him on the way and he came into the city, he obeyed the gospel. Then he wasted no time in getting to work teaching Christ to others.
“Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, ‘Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?’ But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 9:19-22).
Saul was a unique case. As one who had been chosen by Christ to be His apostle (Acts 9:15), he would have the benefit of the Holy Spirit guiding him into all the truth (John 16:13). It will take more time for us to learn the Scriptures and be able to teach them (though we should still work toward this goal – Hebrews 5:12). But there are certain characteristics that Saul demonstrated that we should emulate.
- Zeal – From the beginning, Saul proved to be zealous in preaching the word of God to others. We also should be eager to share the truth with others, taking advantage of the opportunities we have.
- Humility – Saul went from being an enemy of Christ to a disciple who was boldly proclaiming the gospel. Everyone who knew him before was aware of this change. By proclaiming Jesus, he made it clear that he had been wrong about Jesus and wrong in his efforts to persecute the church. It takes a great deal of humility to admit this kind of error.
- Courage – Saul had previously been a persecutor of Christians. There would be others to carry on this work; and because of his background, he would be a primary target. Yet he had the courage to proclaim the truth boldly and publicly.
Let us work to develop these characteristics that Saul possessed so that we can be most effective in the cause of Christ.
Tomorrow’s reading: Acts 11-12
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
