Once upon a time, Paul the Apostle
was Saul. Saul was a devout Jew, who was born into the religious elite,
grew up scholarly under the much hailed Gamaliel and was zealous, scripture tells us, for the religious laws of God as
they had been taught and exampled to him.
ZEALOUS: fervent, ardent, fervid,
fanatical, passionate, impassioned,
devout, devoted. committed, dedicated,
hard-core, enthusiastic, eager, keen, avid, card-carrying,
vigorous, energetic, intense, fierce;
Personally, I really like that last one. Fierce - ferocious
aggressiveness.
That really describes who and what Saul was as he pursued what he thought he knew about the
things of God.
Then he went up against Jesus. Can you even IMAGINE trying to go up
against GOD?
Job 9:4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has
hardened himself against Him and prospered?
SHORT
ANSWER: NO ONE !
Job 9 was part
of our daily reading this week. When you
read that verse, did it give you reason to pause? It did me.
I’ve been chewing on it, like Jack chews the bones I give him, all the
rest of this week. I found myself
thinking “Now who would even try to go against God?”
My own heart trusts and believes, so I cannot
even conceive of one going against the Lord.
Then I thought
of Lucifer, originally the angel of light.
He went against God and was cast out of heaven. Now he is known as satan, the enemy of God, with a very bleak future, a very fiery eternity to look forward to.
And I thought of
Saul who would later be renamed Paul. He went against
God, when he failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. And then he began to persecute Gods
people. Jesus stopped him cold in his
tracks when he was on his way to Damascus to kill more Christians. Struck him blind – or rather, allowed Saul to
experience in the flesh the blindness he already really had in the Spirit – and
asked him plainly “why are you persecuting ME, Saul? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” (you can look up what that means, it’s a
great lesson in humility and discipline!)
I kept
chewing, and then I REALLY answered the question of ‘who would go against God?’
The answer? Me.
You. All of us. We all go against God each time we sin. Sin is described as breaking Gods laws, or
violating Gods will or missing the mark of the target He set for us, going
outside the boundary or limits He gave us.
As Originator and Creator of all things He inherently has the right to
set the standard. So failing to meet
that standard is sin.
And we surely do
not prosper when that happens, do we?
We
do not reap joy or peace or righteousness.
Romans 14:17 (another of our daily readings this past week) tells us for the kingdom of God is not eating and
drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
I began to think
about how easily we fall prey to the temptations of sin. How easily we excuse our hearts when they
covet, when they lust. How quickly we
excuse ourselves when we give in to sin.
Romans 8:13 For if you live after the flesh you will
die. But if you through the spirit
mortify the deeds of the body you shall live.
Colossians 3:5 Therefore mortify (put to death) your members
which are upon the earth fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness which is idolatry.
The word mortify has
several meanings. To cause shame,
humiliation or wounded pride. To subdue,
suppress, control. It’s even been
defined as to destroy, to blow up or blow apart. King James translated it put to death.
Now let’s put
this whole thing together and see where it leads us. (isn’t bible study just the most fun,
EVER?!?)
God created us,
so we are subject to Him. He gave us
free will, so we can obey Him and reap all the wonderful benefits that come
with that obedience. Or we can disobey,
do as we please and reap the consequences.
I’m all for FEROCIOUS AGGRESSIVENESS - both in receiving His forgiveness and in yielding to the Holy Spirit to controlling the flesh! Who’s with me?
Living a life that honors God is not easy, but it is also not impossible. Like Paul, we MUST forget the past which haunts us and press hard on to the future God has for us. We cannot change what we've done, the sin we've committed, but having received Gods forgiveness we can submit to the work of the Holy Spirit and turn away from sin now and in the future. If you have NOT ever asked God to forgive you of your sin and wash you clean as He has promised, RIGHT NOW is a perfect time to do so! Repent - turn away - from sin and ask God to cleanse you through the Blood of Jesus shed on a cross for YOU so long ago. Believe that He has forgiven you and ask Him to live in your heart and guide you through this maze of life. Prayer is our powerful weapon against all evil. Lord, I thank You that any and all who repent of sin, ask Your forgiveness and request the Holy Spirit to live in their hearts will RECEIVE what they ask and be transformed by Your spirit as they change their thinking and behavior to obey You. I ask this in the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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