Devotional Acts 9: The Conversion of Saul and the Light of Jesus Reflection on Acts 9: Saul's encounter on the road to Damascus, how God transforms His greatest persecutors and the strength to overcome opposition. Topics: Devotional, New Testament.

Devotional Acts 9: The Conversion of Saul and the Light of Jesus

My devotional today is found in the book of Acts, chapter 9, and this is what happened.

Synopsis: In this chapter, Saul, still thirsty to persecute and kill all the disciples of Jesus, asked the high priest to send letters to the synagogues of Damascus to announce that he was coming with orders to bring all Christians bound to Jerusalem. When Saul was on his way to Damascus, a light from heaven shone around him and Jesus spoke to him, telling him to go into Damascus and do what he would be told. But Saul became blind after the conversation with Jesus, and his companions led him by the hand into the house of Judas. Afterwards, Jesus spoke to Ananias, one of His disciples, telling him to go lay his hands on Saul so that he might see again and receive the Holy Spirit. He went to meet Saul and did everything Jesus commanded him. From then on, Saul was transformed into a Christian and began to spread the kingdom of God with such boldness that he confounded everyone (e.g., the Jews, the people of Damascus, etc.) who thought he had come to Damascus to persecute Christians. Because of this sudden change, the Jews, the Hellenists, and others wanted to kill him, while many disciples did not believe one hundred percent that Saul had stopped persecuting them and had converted into a Christian. Due to the situation, the disciples helped him escape to Jerusalem, where he was received by Barnabas. Additionally, Peter made some trips to Lydda and Joppa, where he healed a paralytic and raised a godly woman from the dead, respectively. By witnessing his miracles, many people in those regions converted to Christianity.

Observations

These were my observations:

1. Even the enemy is used to do God’s will and glorify Him. In this chapter, we see one of the most improbable scenes: an enemy of Jesus converting into one of His greatest allies. Who would have thought that Saul, who persecuted Christians, would become one of Jesus’ greatest disciples? That is why everyone’s reaction (e.g., the Jews, Hellenists, Christians) was astonished and filled with distrust. This is one of the best testimonies of a transformation story in the Bible. And a message of hope that even the most ungodly of all can turn back into a saint of God. We must always keep this example of Saul in mind for ourselves and others, showing that nothing is lost and everything is possible in the name of God.
2. Whenever we do God’s will with boldness, we must be ready for opposition from the enemy. This is similar to an observation I made previously in other devotionals and that we have already talked about. But we see that this repeats throughout the Bible, as we discussed in the book of Nehemiah. Now, it happened to Saul as well. In other words, whenever you are faithfully aligned with God, this happens. Therefore, we should not be sad or shocked when we encounter opposition on our walk toward holiness, doing God’s will, and spreading the gospel. On the contrary, we should be joyful and become increasingly dependent on God to win the battle between good and evil.