Here's a great example of our ability to change:
Meet Saul - A 1st century Jew, devout in his religion, a man
who acted on his beliefs even to the extreme.
Saul was righteously upset by the effect of the teachings of
Jesus. Saul and many other religious leaders felt that Jesus made a mockery of their
religion. This was a serious charge since Jesus himself was a Jew and professed to be the
promised Messiah who would establish a kingdom here on earth and rule the Jews.
Saul referred to the beliefs of the folowers of Jesus as 'The
Way" and sought permission from the religious leaders to seek out, persecute, torture
and punish the followers. He was very good at this. He was even proud of his
accomplishments. He really believed that he was acting on behalf of the Jewish religion.
Saul witnessed the stoning of Stephan, who would not waver
from his belief in the risen Lord. Saul watched over the garmets of the men who stoned
him, giving his approval to the act.
We would call Saul an evil man. He sought and received
permission to seek out and arrest Christians, bringing them to Jerusalem to face the chief
priests of the Jews. The idea that he would or could change would have been unbelievable.
But in one short moment Saul faced the truth and changed his
direction.
He was traveling to Damascus when an extremely bright light
hit him. It was so bright that he was blinded. The people with him saw the bright light
but did not hear the voice speaking to Saul. The voice called him by name and wisely Saul
answered.
5
And he
said, “Who are You, Lord?”
Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.] It is hard for
you to kick against the goads.”
6 So he, trembling and astonished, said,
“Lord, what do You want me to do?”
Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you
must do.”
7 And the men who journeyed with him stood
speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 8
Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led
him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9
And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
What a frightening experience. Saul, a strong man,
religiously powerful and having taken upon himself the mission of destroying the new
Christian religion, suddenly blind and helpless.During the following three days of
blindness, Saul prayed. He turned to his God for guidance and received it.
God sent a man named Ananias to minister to him, and the Lord
gave Saul a vision of the man coming to return his sight. After his sight was restored,
Saul was baptized and spent time with the disciples. After that he immediately began his
ministry, preaching Jesus as the risen Messiah, completely opposite to what he believed
before.
Although he faced many enemies and perils, he traveled and
preached all across Asia Minor, establishing and nurturing new churches. Saul was also
known as Paul, Acts 13:9 and is referred to as Paul for most of his life after his
conversion.
Can people really change? Certainly. People lose weight, stop
smoking, stop drinking and using drugs all the time. But changes of the heart may need
more than just strong resolve. It may require an encounter with Jesus and accepting Him as
Lord.