verses 8-10: “and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”
Our church had a memorial devotion service the Wednesday (I think?) after 9/11/01. Everyone was still in shock, of course, over what happened in New York and Washington. We came together as a church to pray and to seek God in the midst of all that evil and tragedy that happened. Our pastor asked certain deacons to pray for specific things from the pulpit; one of them was to pray for our enemies. I’m the one who chose that subject, I guess because I really had to pray in the love of Christ on that one!
I remember praying that even if Osama Bin Laden walked through our doors that night, and if he sincerely and earnestly asked God to forgive him, and if he accepted Jesus in his heart, that he would be a Christian and go to Heaven….yes, even him. I drew upon the parallel of Paul; while he was not called a terrorist to my memory, that is what he did prior to his conversion….he was terrorizing the Christians of that day, and persecuting the church.
Yet God used that “chiefest of sinners” and turned him into the greatest missionary the world has ever known. The tone that resounds in Paul’s words is that of humility. He wasn’t Pharisee-prideful over how religious he was…he called himself the “least of the apostles”. However, he didn’t stay stuck in the past…he said “by the grace of God I am what I am”. Simply put, it’s about his second chance. The same second chance that Jesus gives you and me when we accept him.
By the grace of God…
Have a blessed day!
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