From Saul to Paul

Many of us are familiar with Saul, his persecution of the followers of Jesus, his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and conversion to preaching Christ in the synagogues.

When we look at Saul’s life before his encounter with Jesus, we see that he was fervent. He was passionate about what he was doing. He was ignorant as he says about himself in 1Timothy1:13 who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief, but he thought he was doing the right thing based on what he was taught.

Sometimes in life we may find ourselves going in the wrong direction or doing things out of ignorance as Paul stated he was doing. Our ignorance may come from

• Our environment
• Our upbringing
• Influence of
• Family
• Friends
• Social media

Sometimes people may find themselves just following the crowd. They may not even know why they exhibit certain behaviors. They are simply going along with everyone else. Then there are others that believe in what they are doing and stand strongly for their cause.

In addition to being fervent, Saul was a leader and committed to his cause. As a matter of fact he was so committed to his persecution of the followers of Jesus that he sought authorization to go after them, as we read in Acts 9:1-2 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

Saul took it upon himself to go after the followers of Jesus. He was a man on a mission, but one encounter with Jesus changed his mission.

How many of us are doing what we thing is the right thing to do and going at it fervently just as Saul did only to find out we are not doing what God wants us to do.

If you are reading this blog I am pretty sure you are not persecuting the followers of Christ, but you may not be doing what God has called you to do.

I believe God takes our natural attributes, personalities and strengths, adds His anointing, when we give our life to Him and enhances them to be used for His purpose for our lives.

Before Saul’s conversion he was a leader, fervent and committed to his cause. After his conversion he was a leader, fervent and committed to the cause of Christ.

Whatever we do we should do as unto the Lord, regardless of our vocation. We read in John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing. We also read in John 1:17 every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. God has given each of us talents, gifts, attributes, personalities that make us who we are. Each of these good and perfect gifts should be used for His Glory. He wants us to be successful in all that we do according to His will and purpose for our lives.

Whoever you are and whatever God has called you to do will only be magnified when you allow Him to guide you rather than trying to figure it out on your own out of ignorance, or a lack of knowledge of his purpose for your life.

If God has spoken to you, follow his lead. If He has not spoken to you, seek Him, search Him for your purpose.

I will close with one of my favorite scriptures, Proverbs 13:12 hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh it is a tree of life. When we are not doing what God has purposed in our heart to do we are not truly happy, but when we follow his plan and see His purpose coming to pass in our lives there is joy unspeakable. There is not a better feeling than knowing you are exactly where God wants you to be, doing exactly what He wants you to do. When we are in His will, we too can be a leader, fervent and committed to Gods purpose for our lives.