Forgiveness

Lets all go on a journey. Come with me as we travel through time. We'll skip over the 19th century, and keep going back. Past Plymouth Rock, past Columbus, flying beyond the Renaissance, the Dark Ages, through the last days of the Roman Empire, and right into the heart of Jerusalem. We find here a man by the name of Stephen.

Stephen, a speaker of truth inspired by the Holy Spirit, is giving a divinely inspired speach to the leaders of Jerusalem. He is speaking the truth to an unbelieving group, a group that is becoming more and more hostile with every word that is spoken by Stephen. Finally, when their rage has become more than they can contain, they take hold of Stephen and drag him outside. Once there they commence to stoning Stephen in view of the public. As he breaths his last breath, Stephen cries out to the Lord "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." (Acts 7:60) After pleading for not just himself but also his murderers, Stephen closes his eyes and steps into eternity with the Lord.

Finding this scene of violence to hard to watch any longer we look away, but something catches our eye. We see a man standing to the side of the melee, a man who seems to be important. This man doesn't appear to be very old like the others, yet there are people throwing their clothes at his feet. Finding him to be an intersting fellow and curious as to what makes him so important you begin to follow him and observe him from a distance. What you find makes your stomach turn. You watch as this man goes house to house, dragging out both men and women and throwing them into prison. With your mind filled to capacity with curiousity, you ask a passer-by what the meaning of all this is. He tells you that those people being dragged away are followers of the Way. "They are believers in Jesus," he tells you. Shocked and apalled at the entire scene, you decide to keep following this mysterious and trecherous man as he moves toward Damascus. You don't know why you're following him, maybe you think you can stop him if he goes to another home to drag men and women away for their beliefs.

After walking for what seems like forever, you are thirsty, hungry, and extremely tired. Something happens then that makes you forget all those things. This man that you have been following suddenly falls to the ground. You hear a voice like thunder coming from the sky, but you cannot understand what is being said. You understand this man on the ground though, and can hear him say "Who are you, Lord?" After a few moments the man gets up, but he seem disoriented, like he can no longer see.

Overflowing with curiosity you keep following the man into Damascus. There you find lodging in a home next to this man. For three days you wait and observe. This man eats nothing and drinks nothing for these three days, until another man shows up. Listening in on the conversation, you find that this other man's name is Ananias. You watch as Ananias speaks with this man, and as quickly as he lost his sight you notice that he has regained it. As you keep observing you see that this man is taken by Ananias and baptized. Baptized? You think to yourself. This man that was dragging men and women out of their homes for believing in Jesus, is being baptized? Then you remember something. Saul? No, no Paul? Could this be him? This treacherous, and violent man, who tormented people for their belief in Jesus. Is this who God ordained to spread His word throughout the land? WOW! You think to yourself, WOW!

I write this down, because each and every one of us was once blind like Paul. No, not blind in the sense that we can't see our hand in front of our faces, but blind to the love that Jesus gives freely. We resisted, like Paul, the message that was being sent our way, and like Paul maybe even persecuted some who were trying to send us that message. No, I'm not saying we killed anyone or had them thrown into prison, but maybe we spoke harshly to them or about them. All because they were spreading the truth. And all of us, like Paul, had a turning point. Or maybe someone who is reading this hasn't yet. All I can say is this, become blind to the things of this world and open your eyes to the love that Jesus gives freely. And if you feel as though you cannot be forgiven, remember Paul. For all he did to stop the word of Jesus being spread, God forgave him used him to spread the word further than any other. Amen.

Dustin