According to the book of Genesis, humanity rebelled against God in part because we wanted to be like Him in knowing right and wrong. We wanted, in other words, to be able to decide for ourselves whether something is good or bad. That sounds like a good thing – but consider how it has played out through history. The book of Judges speaks of a time when everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Unfortunately, what one person thinks is right doesn’t always line up with what another person thinks is right. As I write this, war is raging across the Middle East. Some will say that it is right, others will say that it is evil. And if we can’t all agree, is there even such a thing as an objective right and wrong? Do all of our actions come down to what makes life best for ourselves?
As a Christian, I believe that there is right and wrong – and that the only one who can define it is the creator and author of all things: God Himself. If we grant that this is true, moral choice comes down to seeking what God’s will is, and living according to it. That isn’t always easy – but if He alone decides right and wrong, it is essential. There is the problem, however, of us thinking that we get to decide what God thinks is right and wrong!
Saul was someone who thought that he knew right from wrong. He was a deeply religious man, who based his life on the Old Testament rules and regulations. As a Pharisee, he was devoted to God, and to living a good life.
Then Jesus came along, claiming to be the Messiah – claiming, in fact, to be God. And then people started speaking of His having been raised from the dead. Saul knew that Jesus couldn’t be God. He didn’t want Jesus to be God. And so he set out on a campaign of ridding the world of Christians. In Acts 9, we read of his heading to Damascus to arrest any Christians he found there.
While on the road, something incredible happened. Saul found himself stopped by a bright light all around him, and a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” And, on Saul asking who it was, he was told, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
The light disappeared, and Saul was rendered blind.
And Saul had a choice to make.
He could have continued along his path. He could have rejected the demands of the voice claiming to be Jesus. He could have redoubled His efforts to prove Himself good enough for God according to the laws and regulations of Moses.
Or he could surrender to Jesus.
Surrendering to Jesus would mean a radical change in the way that Saul lived his life. He would go from persecuting the followers of Jesus to becoming one of them. Rather than stomping out the group, He would join them in proclaiming that Jesus really is God.
Perhaps it’s fitting that in order to get Saul’s attention, God had to first bring him to a place of recognising his weakness. Saul was blind, and there was nothing he could do about it. But God was not powerless. He sent a man named Ananias to Saul, who laid hands on him. God’s Spirit filled Paul, and his sight returned to him.
Step 1 of being apprenticed to Jesus is realising our weakness. Step 2 is coming to know that God is strong. Step 3 is choosing to surrender to God – which is what Paul immediately did. Acts 9:20 tells us that Saul started to preach that Jesus really is the Son of God.
Prior to surrendering to Jesus, Saul believed strongly that he was in the right. He was doing what he did because he thought it was what had to be done. But when he surrendered to Jesus, it meant allowing Jesus to set the agenda.
What about us? Who is setting the agenda of what is right and wrong for us? And what does surrendering to Jesus being in charge look like for us?
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