A New Life

"At that time, I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus." "I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, 'He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.' And they were glorifying God because of me."-  Galatians 1:17, 22-24

Following his encounter with Jesus, Paul was struck blind for three days and, as instructed by the Lord, was led into Damascus.  There, God sent a man by the name of Ananias to come and baptized him as a new follower of Jesus Christ.  We also see that immediately Paul began to testify of his life change.  Now this had to be dumbfounding to the followers of Jesus in Damascus - I imagine they all knew of the old "Saul" as a religious terrorist, so they probably weren't sure how to take all this new "Paul."

After a short time in Damascus, he was sent to Arabia.  A desert. Wilderness.  Not surprising, when you think about how many great men of the faith in Scripture were sent into the wilderness at the beginning of their callings:  Moses, Elijah, even Jesus Christ.  And now we see Paul spending up to three years in the wilderness before going back to Damascus.

Interestingly enough, after he returned from the wilderness, Paul spent the majority of his first three years in his hometown of Tarsus just going about the work of ministry.  Imagine the people in his hometown who witnessed the change in this man!

"I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, 'He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.' And they were glorifying God because of me." Can you imagine the joy Paul must have felt? To have gone from being someone hated and feared, to being someone who was sharing the joy of the Lord wherever he went?

If God's grace can be extended to a religious terrorist like Paul, what's your excuse?  Do you think the grace of God cannot be extended to you for the things you've done in your life, if God extended that to Paul? Of course, it can!

And another thing to realize - Paul's greatest influence in the lives of his contemporaries and in all of the lives of those who came after him - didn't happen overnight. It took 14 years of being a follower of Jesus Christ before Paul was seen as a leader in the church. This is his story.  Part One - his life before Christ.  Part Two - his encounter with Christ. - his life after meeting Christ as his Savior and Lord.

We all have a Part One in our life story.  What is your life story?

Still Hungry?  1 Thessalonians 2:14, Romans 16: 3, Acts 6:7