Galatians 1:23, 24
""The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!" And they praised God because of me."
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The book of Galatians is written by Paul to the people of the region of Galatia which is in modern day Turkey. Contrary to most of his other epistles, Paul gave no recorded commendations or compliments to the Galatians in this book. He was clearly writing to correct some of the teachings in and around the Galatian church that went against the important doctrine of "solo fide" (justification by Faith alone). In Chapter 2, Paul even recounts how he had to confront Peter to his face in Antioch as Peter had slipped back into requiring some elements of the law (e.g. circumcision). This is a powerful illustration to how important Paul is to our faith today in that he had to confront the very "rock" of the early church to ensure Jesus' message of salvation and freedom carried on in the church.
With this explanation of how important Paul was and is to the church, we come to our verse today. As I was reading through Galatians this past weekend, I came across this verse and was again reminded about how God can change us completely if we just listen to him and follow his lead. Scripture describes Saul (Paul before his conversion) as the biggest persecutor of the church. Saul was even present at the stoning of the first Christian martyr Stephen. Just the mention of Saul's name sent fear into the early believers.
But after Paul's experience on the road to Damascus, he was, to say the least, a changed man. God did not just settle for convincing Saul to stop persecuting Christians and to clean up his life a little. God turned Saul 180 degrees in the opposite direction from persecuting to preaching! Paul would become the apostle to the Gentiles and the single most important influence to the growth of Christianity throughout the world. Paul went on to even write almost half of the books of the New Testament. As today's verse points out the people went from fearing Paul persecutions to Praising God for him. What a turnaround!
The turnaround experience of Paul is not a rare theme in the Bible. The New Testament and the Old Testament are replete with examples of how God has taken the low and made them large for him. God delights in using the weakest of us to do his will so that we can only give him all the praise.
My prayer for you this week, is to take this message and apply it both to your own lives as well as others we come in contact with. For our lives, we need to remember that there is nothing we have done that God cannot forgive. And in fact, he will often use our sinful decisions to reach others for his ultimate good. And as we approach others that need a turnaround, remember that your care for them or your words of truth and life to them, could be the words and actions that the Holy Spirit uses to turn them slowly in the right direction. Have the courage this week to reach out to someone going in the wrong direction - your obedience and actions could be the spark needed to create the next Paul!
...and don't forget to love God with all your heart, love others as He does, and use every minute for His will and to His glory!
Family Update: The Rudys are all doing pretty well these days. We are making our way through the summer and in fact Hannah only has 2 weeks left before she goes back to School! This morning, I am actually in Tampa on business (well actually planning to play some beach volleyball at Clearwater beach tonight). I am also in Tampa tomorrow and then travel to Atlanta on Wednesday and then back home late Wednesday night. Next week, I am traveling to Dallas, and 3 offices in California (Concord, Irvine, Emeryville) all in 1 week. I would covet your prayers for safe travel and productive discussions during this time. Love you all!
