Blinded by The Light

"Good laws protect Christians from persecution." 

In a fair and equitable society, law protects all citizenry. This standard of treatment is Godly, since He does not play favourites 

For there is no respect of persons with God (Romans 2:11)

This morning I went into the book of Acts. The powerful conversion story is told of Saul being blinded by the light, transformed from a man that thought he was being a good Jew, by killing anyone that was committing the crime of breaking the first commandment, into a man that lives and ultimately dies for his faithfulness to Jesus Christ.  Saul believes he is honouring God by hunting, persecuting, beating, and killing Christians:

I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:2-3)

Saul was a man of principled conviction, as near to being the perfect representation of godliness that a human can get. God selected a man after His own heart, willing to go to extremes to defend the faith. 

Transitionary piece

Saul was the in-between man, a transitionary piece on the chessboard of life. He grew up in a system that was dedicated to honouring God, and he was committed to living his life based on the trajectory God had established for His people in the wilderness. There was a promise of deliverance from this lawful system, a fulfilling of the law through the Messiah, and Saul, just like every other Jew, knew this and anticipated it too. In the mean time, he lived the ways of his ancestry. 

How was he to know that the LORD of the universe would manifest in the flesh in his lifetime? The Jews were used to following rules while waiting ... God didn't give them a precise arrival date for the Son to make His presence known and felt. God is like that; He has a way of ensuring we don't get ahead of His timeline. Grin. He reveals what He conceals and hints at, at just the right moment.  

Off-roading

Going back to Saul being a transitionary piece on the chessboard of life, I point you to him as the model for us, of conversion! We think one way prior to our own blinded by the light revelation, only to learn that we were off-roading at top speed, far and away from anything resembling the will of God. I don't know about you, dear reader, but I am guilty of having been condemning of anyone that dishonoured Jesus' in my presence. While it is perfectly normal to display loyalty to those we love, especially the living God, condemning is not for humans, because as I said above, God reveals what He conceals and hints at, at just the right moment.

How am I to know who will be the next convert, from Saul, Christian persecutor and killer, to Paul, professing Jesus Christ as the King? 

Born free

I started this piece with a quote from the study notes in my Bible. In Acts, Paul is beaten by a Roman centurion, without a trial. When Paul shares that he was born free with the rights and privileges afforded Roman citizens, the guard becomes cautious of his treatment of Paul, realizing that this was no mere man, and that a higher power could hold him, the centurion, accountable for committing a crime worthy of severe punishment. For a full accounting of this intricate exchange please do, read the book of Acts. It is magnificent in too many wondrous ways to recount here, and I simply cannot do it justice!

I now direct our attention to what I want us to absorb and remember going forward. God does not play favourites. He loves so abundantly, that He puts up with our misguided "principled" ways, our self-absorbed silliness when we think we can defend Him by attacking others, and even our slowness in converting to His will and His way. 

Citizens of heaven

When we are blinded by The Light, it is because He wants us to see Him in all His glory. He wants to light our path to understanding that to love like He does, we must treat one another as though we are all potential citizens of heaven. 

There is no cruelty, hatred, or mean-spirited selfishness in heaven. Heaven is filled with the converted, those that had Saul to Paul conversions, from spiritually blind darkness, to seeing in technicolour sharpness! 

We are to notice and discern the darkness, but not be drawn into it, dear one. The greatest conversion is from self-centredness to Christ focused. 

I pray you are blinded by The Light today, dear reader ✝️

I pray you have your own road to Damascus conversion 💖