Take My Hand

“Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

John 20:29


Growing up my dad would tell me, “Michael, learn from my mistakes as you don’t have enough time in your life to make them all on your own.” I believe thats one of the lessons the Lord would have for each of us as we study Acts chapter 9 and the life of a guy named Saul who became known as the apostle Paul. Learn from the life lessons of others, especially the hard ones!

The apostle Paul learned to walk by faith and not by sight literally for when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him for the very first time the glory of God was so bright that Saul became literally blind for three days and had to be led around by the hand until he was prayed for and regained his sight. If anyone understood what it meant at that moment to walk by faith and not by sight it was Paul.

The lesson Jesus taught Saul that day is the same lesson Jesus wants to teach you and me today. More important is how each of us should approach every day. Walking by faith means, “Lord I have no idea what today holds but I know you do so I’m looking to you and waiting on you to show me what I must do.” That was basically the message Jesus gave Saul on the day He called Saul to “Follow Me” and receive salvation by grace through faith.  

In Acts 9:6 NKJV, Saul got his first lesson in walking by faith when Jesus said, “So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” I love what pastor John Courson writes in his commentary about verse 6. He said, “Underline this verse, because it is the essence of what conversion is all about. You'll always know when a person is truly born-again, for when he's had an encounter with the Lord, he will invariably ask, "Lord, what do You want me to do?"

He goes on to say, “A man in a restaurant, choking on a chicken bone, grabbed his throat and fell to the floor. From five tables over a doctor stood up, ran to the scene, and quickly dislodged the bone. "Doctor, what do I owe you?" asked the man. "Whatever you thought it was worth when you were choking," replied the doctor.”

Whatever the Lord calls you and I to do isn’t asking us too much. May we never forget we were all like the guy choking in the restaurant before coming to Christ. If Jesus hadn’t come along and saved us, we’d be dead so anything He asks of us is a privilege not a chore. Let’s not forget today the lesson Saul learned in that God calls each of us to a life of faith, one step at a time not based on what we see but trusting Him who promised to take us by the hand and guide us where we need to go.

“For we live by believing and not by seeing.”

2 Corinthians 5:7



I LOVE YOU!

 

Michael Osthimer

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