June 10, 2022

Acts 9: 1-5 (NIV)

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. . . . As he neared Damascus . . . suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

But looking at men like this – not as they are, but as they will be – I could also see in our persecutors a Saul of Tarsus – a future apostle Paul.*

It may seem that Saul/Paul had an unfair advantage with his conversion experience. If a bright light flashed and the voice of Jesus spoke to you, wouldn’t you be converted? I think that Paul received special treatment for (at least) two reasons: 1) he was being called for a very special ministry; 2) the Christians were afraid of him so who was brave enough to preach the gospel to him?

Paul’s conversion was unique and special but God does not ignore others as they are traveling on their Damascus roads. The testimonies of a couple of my friends come to mind. One friend repeatedly turned down her neighbor’s invitations to attend church with her – until finally she said yes. Due to that neighbor’s persistence, my friend eventually accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Now she, her husband, and their children and grandchildren are the legacy of the neighbor who never gave up.

Another friend remembers the woman who eventually led her to Christ but she looks back on her life and recalls other people that God put in her life to help turn her to the right path. Their influence wasn’t so compelling individually but each one was building on the efforts of the ones before as their planting and watering prepared the soil so that the last person in the chain could witness the harvest.

Yes, Paul’s conversion story may be the most dramatic in history but in my friends’ experience, the light still flashed and the voice of Jesus spoke and the results are spectacular. As Christians, we need to be reminded: never give up on your lost loved ones; and never underestimate the value of your prep work in the garden of souls.

Most people come to a saving faith in Jesus through an intentional relationship.*