DEVOTION
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
A TESTIMONY
Acts 22:8-16
8 "'Who are you, Lord?' I
asked. "'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 9
My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who
was speaking to me. 10 "'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked. "'Get up,'
the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have
been assigned to do.' 11 My companions
led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had
blinded me. 12 "A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout
observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13 He
stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very
moment I was able to see him. 14 "Then he said: 'The God of our fathers
has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words
from his mouth. 15 You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and
heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your
sins away, calling on his name.'
NIV
Paul is still speaking, by
permission of the Roman commander, to the Jews who had just rioted and were
even beating him. He is telling them his testimony, which we dealt with when it
happened to him. However, this is still a great testimony that Paul is
recounted for their benefit. Although it is generally not good to cling to the
past, this is different. If we have always believed that as long as we are chained
to our past, we cannot move forward into our future. Paul has made that a point
very well when he said to forget that which is behind and strain or press on toward
the goal. However, that does not apply to our testimony. It is always a good
deed to recount our testimony of how Jesus came into our lives. We have been
told on a couple occasions that we are beating a dead horse, as asked what God
has done for us more recently. Well, we could recount numerous times both in
the past, the near past, and the very near past, when God has been involved in
working in and through us. But it is the moment in which we were changed,
transformed from a sinner to a saint that is the most dramatic event that has
ever happened in our lives. This is what Paul is recounting to the Jews who
wanted him dead. He tells them he has life, and life everlasting, maybe not in
those exact words, but because the Lord Jesus came to him and changed him
forever, from a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews
living there, to this Apostle of Jesus Christ, chosen to hear the words of the Righteous
One. There was some symbolism as well in the fact that Saul became blind, to show how he was blind to the truth, but now he can see, after visiting with Ananias and being baptized and having all
his sins washed away. This is quite a difference from having to observe the law
in an attempt to find righteousness, and simply believing in Jesus and having all
our sins washed away. Of course, we follow Jesus through the waters of baptism,
as Paul did, and in that sense, publicity proclaiming our burial and
resurrection, being changed forever, However, the point is that we should
always be ready to recount our moment, our encounter with Jesus when he came personal
to call us, to change our lives and even our name forever. We should never
forget our testimony, and never fail to retell that story whenever we have the
opportunity.
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