Devotion
Saul/Paul
Frances Taylor
Saul's eyes have been blinded physically and I believe that this is a metaphor for his spiritual blindness in persecuting the Christians. For three days he neither saw nor ate, nor drank. Again, I think of this as his time in a tomb. During this time he prayed and saw in a vision a man coming to him who would lay his hands upon him and give him back his sight. Now, Ananias was the man Saul saw, and God asked Ananias to go to Saul. Needless to say he was reluctant but he did do as the Lord asked and Saul received his sight, rose, was baptized, ate and was strengthened. Once he had come to know Jesus he began to proclaim Jesus as the Son of God. I'm sure you can understand why the Christians in the area were afraid of him and didn't believe his transformation. Saul/Paul became the "apostle to the Gentiles" and without him, we would have so much less knowledge of the early church and the teachings of Jesus. We, too, can be suspicious of a person's transformation. I wonder sometimes why we can't believe that God can still change the heart of a person and bring him or her to faith. I think it may come from a desire for punishment of someone who has behaved badly. But we are not the judges of a person's heart. That's God's job. I for one am happy to leave it to him.
Prayer
Loving God, you want all your children to be with you in heaven. You give us all opportunities to come to know and believe in you. Let us not be suspicious of those who come to you later in their journey, but be grateful that we have come to know of your love at an early age. Amen.
Night Prayer
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Inspiration
We despise the thought of a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. The outside is easy to clean; it's the caked-up residue on the inside that's so difficult to remove. Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees with dishes that have been wiped clean on the outside while dirty inside. The Pharisees took exceptional care of their outward appearance and neglected their inward spirits. We are guilty of allowing our hearts to be left filthy as well. We look and act as we should while our souls are full of darkness. We must continue to converse with the Holy Spirit daily and trust His guidance to cleanse our sinful nature.
Prayer
Dear God, Please forgive our sinful nature. We yearn for cleansing from within, so we are genuine witnesses to Your name. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
