Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
One of the most passionate people in the bible was Saul. You may know him by his Roman name of Paul, which he used more after the encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road.
He was one of the most learned men in the New Testament. He had command of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. His purpose was to pursue truth, and before the Damascus Road, he saw the fact as it was taught to him and interpreted the scripture.
I believe many Christians would find themselves similar to Saul. They have been brought up in the church and studied the scripture. They listen to their Sunday School Teachers and Preachers and seek to serve God as they have been told and their view of the scripture.
Maybe we are like Saul and are fearful of no one except God. I wonder if God had been trying to get Saul’s attention before the Damascus Road experience. The thing I notice in the story of his conversion, which you can find in Acts 9:1-19, was Saul’s response to the voice of God, “Who are you, Lord?”
All this time of service, Saul’s to God, and he didn’t know God.
Saul, blinded by the light, would spend three days not eating or drinking but just in his thoughts.
Are you like Saul?
Have you been reading your scriptures and listening to the Sunday School Teachers and Preachers? Maybe you, too, are persecuting the Lord.
Priests in many churches will burn incense before the reading of the Gospels.
The smoke symbolizes the prayers of the faithful drifting up to heaven: the Psalmist prays, “Let my prayer come like incense before you; the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141).
This key element seemed to be missing from Saul’s life before the Damascus Road. He was lacking the direction of God. Saul had read the scriptures and interpreted them without God.
All this happened to Saul to regain his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The key to the change in Saul’s life was his purpose was to be aligned with God’s purpose rather than his alone.
Are you busy today doing “Good,” or are you seeking God to know his will for you?