Persecuting the Lord?

Most of us know the account of the salvation of Saul on the road to Damascus. He was going there to continue his reign of terror against the followers of Jesus. He had helped put Stephen to death for his testimony of belief in Jesus, and then, he had set out to imprison as many others as possible. Finally, he decided to go as far as Damascus seeking more victims. However, Jesus stopped him outside the city with a blinding light. (Acts 22:7-8) Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" Saul responded by saying, "Who are you, Lord?" Jesus answered him by saying, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, the One you are persecuting." I am sure that response caught Saul off guard, and it should make us think, too. How had Saul been persecuting Jesus? Let's think about that.

When we become followers of Jesus, we are adopted into God's family. We are saved from our sins and given eternal life. We become new creatures. However, just as significant as those things is that we become a member of the body of Christ, the church. Yes, if we are followers of Jesus, we do not just go to a church building to worship, we are the church. We are Christ's hands and feet in this world. We are His mouth, so He can speak through us to the people around us. Therefore, when someone is against us, when they persecute us, they are persecuting Jesus Himself. We should take great comfort in that fact, because Jesus will stand up for us, when His body is attacked. It is not that we won't be called on to give our lives for Him at times, but He is always with us. Also, He has a vested interest in us being successful in spreading the gospel to others, so they can have eternal life, too. When we hurt, He is hurt. When we rejoice, He rejoices. That relationship and love should excite us and let us know that we are never alone in carrying out the mission of Jesus in this world.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Acts 24-26.