Saul, before he became a Christian and his name was
changed to Paul, hated anything that went against his idea of proper faith in
God. He was a Pharisee, well-educated and sure of himself. However, one day
during his rampage against Christians, he was confronted by Jesus Christ and a blinding
light.
And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ (Acts 26:14)
A goad is pointed instrument used for urging on oxen,
horses and other beasts of burden. From this came an idiom or proverb, “to kick
against the goad” which means ‘to offer vain and perilous or ruinous resistance
to authority in such a way as to cause harm or suffering to oneself.’ In other
words, “Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by your
resistance.”
Saul may have meant well, at least in his own evaluation of
what he was doing, but as Chambers says, those set on their own way in obstinacy
and self-will will always stab Jesus Christ. These actions may not hurt others,
but every time I stand on my rights and insist on doing whatever I want to do,
I am resisting the authority of God the Son. In effect, that is persecuting
Jesus.
What a crushing thought that I could vex and grieve the Spirit
of God. When Saul realized he was doing it, he was immediately helpless. The blinding
light took his sight, but this blinding light of truth took the fight right out
of him. Within days, he submitted his life to Christ, holding nothing back. No more
persecution.
Sometimes I’m shocked that persecution can come from
religious people. It might be from those who form their own belief system
against the plain teaching of Scripture. It might also be from those who adhere
and teach the Gospel, yet their lives give lie to what they profess to teach.
I could also teach truth and not live it — and this is the
attitude that persecutes Jesus Christ. He is conscious of one thing only—a
perfect oneness with the Father. He tells me, “Learn of Me, for I am meek and
lowly in heart.” When I do my own thing and go my own way, it is not out of
meekness nor perfect oneness with Him, but a self-willed determination to be
godly, making my spiritual life all about me instead of all about Him. That is
most hateful.
Saul was antagonistic toward Christians too, even with
murderous intent. While my self-righteousness might not go that far, any self-righteousness
springs from anti-Christ sinfulness. In Saul’s case, Jesus asked him why he was
persecuting Him, taking personal any action against His people. He lives in
those who truly believe, making how I treat other believers the same as how I
am treating Jesus. This is a strong and sobering message and a genuine test of my
relationship with Him.
There is another thought here. Jesus took a whip after the
money-changers and called the Pharisees hypocrites and white-washed tombs. He
was antagonistic toward self-righteous pretenders, not true believers. I am not
Jesus and cannot always know who is who in the religious world, but the story
of Saul and the actions of Jesus must be carefully considered. I am to “love my
enemies” but Jesus is not telling me to “be nice” and disregard hypocrisy and
false teaching, not in myself nor in anyone else.
Perhaps these are both sides of the same issue: keep my
relationship with Him true and honest for when I do, then He will give me
light, not to blind me but to show me how to relate to others.
Last night’s infectious diseases specialist discovered
that Bob tested positive as a child on the test for TB. He has never had it so
the doctor figured it was likely a false positive. However, taking no chances,
he ordered more tests. Carriers of TB can come down with this awful disease
when weakened by something like CLL. They can also give it to others. Since
that has not happened, the tests should be negative, but just to be safe, they
put him in an ultra isolation room that requires better masks and more
precautions.
One good thing from this is that the nurses are not in
there every few minutes waking him up! He might get some more much needed sleep.
He does feel a bit better today too.
Another good sign is that he is highly annoyed that he
cannot go out of the room for 3-4 short walks that he’s enjoyed the past couple
of days. But a bright spot: two visitors brought a container of oatmeal raisin
cookies, his favorite kind. At least he does not have to wear a mask (they are tight
and totally uncomfortable) so he can eat this welcome treat!
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