Paul

There is a word in the New Testament that we often just slide right over when we should just stop for a moment and contemplate its lesson. The word? "Paul." Here was a man born a Roman citizen--a man of prestige. Here was a highly educated man especially in Judaism--he sat at the feet of one of their all time great teachers: Gamaliel. Here was a man of leadership--a Pharisee of the Pharisees. Here was a man who put into practice what he believed with all diligence. Here was a man who hated Christianity and the name of Jesus. Cheered at the death of Stephen and then in brutal cruelty tried to wipe Christians from the face of the earth--both men and women. His hateful zeal was so strong that he wasn't satisfied with just trying to rid Jerusalem of Christ's followers, he was going to go wherever he could go in order to attack and destroy them. Damascus--and who knows where else was on his list of targets. We don't know for sure what was eating at his soul--Stephen's face glowing at his trial, his call for forgiveness as they stoned him to death, the faithfulness of the believers that he persecuted as they refused to blaspheme the name of their Savior. No one could see his heart but our Lord and Savior. But this we know--he was saved by the grace of God. He was transformed into a child of God, a faithful witness to Jew and Gentile, a man who lived a life of steady obedience to the Lord he came to know and love--faithful, no matter what.
Lessons: Two, at least, come to mind; in a sense they are intertwined. First, God's grace can save anyone. The best education, tremendous intellect, positions of authority, religious zeal and fervency, hatred for the Christian message and Christians--nothing is a hindrance to the Spirit's work of grace in any person's heart. Any person can be saved by grace. Which leads me to the next lesson. Second, who is that I know who seems so arrogantly, blasphemous toward the gospel that I've assumed that he or she is beyond the reach of grace? Who is it I have quit praying for that he or she might find the Redeemer because I think it is impossible for God to reach such a heart? Shame on me! May I stop for a moment and reflect the next time I open one of the epistles of the New Testament and read these words, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God." Keep praying. With our God of infinite forgiveness and infinite grace nothing is impossible. Nothing.