Good morning, everyone.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 9:5, “And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’”
Admit. Believe. Confess. You may recognize these words as the ABCs of becoming a Christian. Admit is to admit to God that you are a sinner. Believe means to believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that He paid the penalty for your sins. And Confess is to confess that Jesus is your Savior. If someone helped to “lead” you to Jesus when you first believed in Him, they may have explained these three points to you to help you understand salvation. They also may have helped you pray and ask Jesus into your heart as the means to becoming a Christian. Similarly, someone may have shared something called the Four Spiritual Laws with you in the process of you becoming a Christian. These laws include God loves you, man is sinful and separated from God, Jesus is God’s only provision for man’s sin, and we must receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. Like the ABCs, these laws are wonderful biblical truths that communicate certain teachings from scripture.
On the other hand, we have the apostle Paul’s conversion. In this instance, it would seem that he left out a few of the steps that are generally taught today as being necessary for salvation. But no one on the planet has ever accused Paul of not being a Christian. And I think that is because as dramatic and real as his experience was with Jesus on that Damascus road, Paul hung his hope of eternity on being a follower of Jesus more so than becoming a follower of Jesus. Even when he recounts his conversion story two separate times later in Acts, his main intent is to proclaim the amazing transformation God worked in him and to declare that his life is a calling from God. In his letter to the Philippians, he describes more fully what it means for him to follow Jesus when he says he counts all things as rubbish that he may gain Christ, that he may find righteousness from God through faith in Christ, that he may know Him and be conformed to his death, and that he forgets whatever he has attained and presses on toward the goal for which God called him. That life sounds like it admits, believes, and confesses. More importantly, it looks like it every day. If you’re not living that life, perhaps an A, B, C, or something else is missing.
As we seek Him today, assess whether you have a relationship with Jesus or you had an experience with Him, and determine to love and follow Him completely.
Have a delightful Thursday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
