Acts 9:15-16
“But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.’ ”
From time to time I reflect on the sacrifice that followers of Jesus have had to make across the years. In many cases prison and/or death was the common price for claiming Christ as your Savior.
Those who were the persecutors of Christians gave them opportunity to change their minds and recant their belief in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Their challenge was something like this: “Recant or you will die!” Some responded to their persecutors: “Repent or you will die!”
One thing that such persecution did was to weed out the namby-pamby half-hearted followers of the Lord. When your life was on the line, you made sure that you were ready to repent.
My great fear is that we have churches full of people who believe about Christ, who believe that He is the Son of God who came to die for our sins. They even go so far as to make a public profession of that statement. The problem is that this is not enough—There must be repentance!
Repentance is turning around and going the other way. In the verses before today’s Scripture, Saul (Paul) had been going to Damascus in order to persecute believers. On the road he was blinded by the presence of the Lord and his life suddenly turned around. Paul was blind and now this man, Ananias, was ordered to go and place his hands on him so he could see.
There is one phrase that we need to see: “I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” Paul knew what was in store for him. He faced suffering and death, but there was a crown of righteousness waiting for him in glory!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil