Saul’s Conversion

You can call Jesus anything you like...but you can never say He was dull. Take a look at the life of Jesus. But to do that we must first forget the picture that we always conjure up when we think of Jesus... you know the one...

Jesus was not some religious stuffed shirt. He was every bit God, in the flesh, and as such He never sinned...He never became a part of the "world" but yet He was always doing something out of the ordinary. He spoke the Word of God, and in places most of us wouldn't be caught dead in.

He went out among the sinners...and not in a way that would hide the fact of who He was. He was exciting, and dynamic, and the people saw in Him something the dull, lifeless religion of the Pharisees could never give. In fact, it was because His enemies couldn't tame Him that they had to crucify Him.

I honestly believe that if Jesus came to earth today, and did the same things He did when He walked the earth 2,000 years ago, we'd also reject Him...because we are becoming as religious as the Pharisees.

Most of what we call religion today is merely something that we catch a glimpse of, but yet is always just out of reach...but we have to keep on grasping for it, like a drowning man trying to keep his head above water...

We find ourselves like Paul, desperately far away from the kingdom of God just when we think we are safely and squarely right in the middle of it.

We have gotten used to the pride...that we actually call humility, and are quite content to mistake our satisfaction with what we are for what Christ really desires us to be......as seen in His word.

Some of you may be saying to yourself right now, "Thank God, I'm not like that." But instead of thanking God, you must let me thank you, because you've helped me make my point. That's just what the Pharisee said in the temple. And that is more than self-righteousness...its blasphemy!

So why can't we come to terms with what we obviously can't avoid? It isn't safe to believe in the God of the Bible. And isn't that what we really want...safety and security? Other than spiritually speaking, that is something that we seldom see in the Scriptures.

All the people I read about, especially Paul, gave up all thought of that once they got saved...I mean really saved. You show me a dull Christian in the Bible...show me one that got saved and then retired to the safety of a sanctuary before they would ever let their "religion" show.

If your Christian life is dull...you haven't been taking any chances. If it is uninteresting...you've made it that way. And you're not likely to help things much by acquiring a few added interests like luncheons or lectures or social clubs.

Life doesn't want to be safe...it doesn't want to absorb something - it wants to create something!

The Christian life was meant to be far more than we allow it to be. But at this point we've got to add something. Paul was not only converted from - he was at the same time converted to ...but to what?

Now, I don't want you to let the word conversion upset you. It doesn't necessarily have to do with becoming either a saint or a Christian. It very simply has to do with turning around, which is a maneuver we engage in pretty much every day.