May 26, 2022

John 16: 2 (NIV)

“A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.”

How blind we can become! The cataracts of self-interest and self-satisfaction must be removed. We must see life in the clear, clean light of truth – God’s truth.*

Jesus’ prediction was fulfilled vividly in the life of Saul. Before his conversion (and name-change), Saul was a terrorist who believed that he was doing the will of God by persecuting Christians. Acts 8: 3 gives a chilling description of his fervor: “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” And in Acts 9: 1, we learn that he was “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.” Read on in Acts chapter 9 for Saul’s dramatic conversion from persecutor to preacher.

No amount of sincerity could make up for the wrongness of Saul’s actions. We can’t excuse bad behavior with a shrug and an “Oh, he means well.” When Jesus hijacked Saul on the road to Damascus, he didn’t minimize his sin; he told Saul what he was doing wrong and what to do about it. And, to his credit, Saul didn’t argue. (You might say he saw the light!) He did as Jesus instructed him – and he prayed until the Lord revealed the next phase of his plan.

Have you ever learned that you were sincerely wrong? How hard was it to let go of your wrong beliefs and behavior? Are you sure that what you believe today could withstand the blinding light of the Truth? Perhaps you are holding on to bad doctrine because it is what you were taught as a child. Maybe it’s what your family still believes and you are reluctant to separate yourself from them. Saul could have referred to his Jewish heritage and refused to obey the voice of Jesus – but he recognized Jesus’ authority over the law and tradition, and chose to let go of his sincerely wrong beliefs. Do you need to make that choice, too?

Every individual carries within him a set of convictions born of past experience and the influence of other personalities. He is apt to consider his opinions sacrosanct and rationalize principle out of them.*