And not to be configured to this eon, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, for you to be testing what is the will of God, good and well pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12: 2, Concordant New Testament
There's a guy I work with. Someone of, let's just say nefarious behaviors when it comes to his recreational time away from work. A man with a wife and three children who has been known to drop back a few beers at the local strip club before going home at the end of the day. A real family guy. As most readers of this page know, that was once my way of doing things as well. That was the road I used to travel before Jesus pulled me back. My coworker wondered this week why he had not seen me at the local watering hole for awhile. I simply told him that I had been a bit busy, because trying to explain to him the real reason for my absence may have been a bit over his head. I'm not sure that he would have understood that night I realized that I was somewhere I didn't belong. Don't get me wrong, I had been a regular attendee to the local dens of iniquity for quite some time. It's what guys do, so I was told. So, you can imagine the shock among my work brethren when they realized that I was not partaking in the time honored male tradition of admiring the female body. As far as Jesus was concerned, it was not the place for me to be. Far too many people often find themselves traveling down that road I once did. Walking somewhere they shouldn't be. My coworker continues to do just that. The only difference between myself and him is my realization of the Lord Jesus in me. Were he to chance upon his own revelation of Christ, he might change his path as I have. It is never the Lords intent to see His children waste their lives in the pursuit of what many would call worldly treasures. Scripture tells us to avoid such things {1 John 4-6}. People such as my coworker are of the world, that is what they flock to. Yet, we recall a man named Saul who also once walked in the world but was shown the error of his ways.
Now Saul, still breathing out threatening and murder against the disciples of the Lord, approaching the chief priest, requests for him letters for Damascus to the Synagogues, so that, if he should be finding any who are of the way, both men and women, he may be leading them bound to Jerusalem. Now in his going he came to be nearing Damascus. Suddenly a light out of heaven flashes about him. And falling on the earth, he hears a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" Yet he said, "Who art Thou, Lord?" Yet He said, "I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting."
Acts 9: 1-6, Concordant New Testament
Would anyone dare think of the apostle Paul as an unbeliever? Would any well meaning Christian stake claim that Paul was wandering down that wrong road in life? Well, before it was revealed to Paul who he truly was, he was the man Saul who persecuted the believers of the early church. It was Saul who fought for the execution of those who followed the words of Jesus. Raised up deeply in the Jewish faith, Saul saw the teachings of Jesus as blasphemy at the very least. Being the loyal religious soldier, Saul did his part to do away with those of the way, the early church. Yet, that road Saul was walking one day brought him face to face with the One whom he had been vehemently against for so long. The man Jesus. What is interesting to me is that from the beginning of his encounter with Jesus, Saul, seems to know that he is dealing with something different here. His initial response leads us to this conclusion..."Who are You, Lord?" Now, it may well have been the bright flash of light that blinded him that brought him to that conclusion, but being a religious man himself, I believe that Saul had a hint of who he was dealing with. So, another man wandering in the wiles of the world receives the revelation of Christ. Anyone see a pattern here? I am satisfied to tell those I once associated with that I no longer indulge in that which I used to. Some accept me despite of that while others walk away. If there is one thing I have learned from this is what I learned outside the strip club that night. No man is beyond the reach of the Lord.
~Scott~
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