Converted
When your whole life changes for the better, don't you want the world to know?
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy, my loyal child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach any different doctrine, and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training that is known by faith. But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions. Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately. This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers, fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. - 1 Timothy 1:1-17
If you think about it, Paul had an amazing life.
He starts out thinking he has made it to where he wants to be, a leader of his faith, a man respected and admired, and then Jesus turns his world upside down.
Everything he thought was true became false, in an instant.
Jesus was smart. By converting an enemy into an apostle, Jesus created a strong case for redemption. Come to me, he was saying, and I will make you stronger than you thought you were before.
I will change you from what you think you are, into what you have no idea you could be.
Who wouldn't want that type of conversion?
Paul, though afflicted himself, had nothing but good things to say about Jesus, who he never met during his brief life, and yet came to adore after a brief encounter on the road.
Imagine what our lives could be like if we choose to follow Him now?
He just might choose to make an example of us the way He did of Paul. And then what could we become?
More to come...