He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’” vss. 5-6
Acts 9:3-9
There are some who refer to this experience on the road to Damascus as the conversion of Paul, but that description misses the point. Paul was not converted, but remained a proud and faithful Jew, a man proud of his training and heritage. And what happened to him on the road was his call. On the surface it was a foolish choice, exactly the opposite of what human agency would have predicted. Paul had been the chief enemy of the Christian community, completely mistrusted by those he was now being called to love and serve. We can be sure it was a shock to Paul too. He knew the Lord’s voice. He was arresting Christians because he loved the Lord, and then in a flash of light the Lord was revealed to be none other than Jesus. To the end of his life Paul believed that this was his call to be an apostle, not a substitute chosen by the roll of some dice, but the equal of Peter and John. As time passed the Spirit revealed to him that he was to be the apostle to the Gentiles, and he assumed that role with joy and gladness. His story reminds us that Jesus chooses unlikely folks for the most important work, and often we’re the ones that he has picked.
Thought for the Day: What is my call?
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