I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene. Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.
—Acts 26:9–11 NLT
Every person in your life who doesn’t know Christ represents a spiritual opportunity for you. If you’re like most people, you probably have some acquaintances who seem as though they would be receptive to the gospel message. It takes no great stretch of the imagination to picture them as fellow believers, worshipping and serving the Lord alongside you. On the other hand, you probably have other acquaintances who seem so far from God—whose lives are so broken and whose priorities are so mixed up—that you’re tempted to write them off as lost causes.
If that’s the case, God’s Word has a message for you: Don’t. Don’t fall into the devil’s trap of believing that certain people are beyond God’s reach. The reality is that no one who draws breath is beyond redemption.
In Acts 26:9–11, the apostle Paul describes one of the most amazing conversions of all time—a conversion so unlikely that even Jesus’ disciples didn’t think it was possible. He’s describing, of course, his own conversion.
“I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene. Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities” (NLT).
When he was known as Saul of Tarsus, Paul was one of the most radical antagonists of the early church. It was Saul who presided over the death of Stephen, the first martyr of the church who courageously stood up for his faith. It was Saul who went out of his way to hunt down Christians, imprison them, and even destroy them. This man was bent on the eradication of the Christian faith.
Yet God saved him and changed his life beyond recognition. That’s the power of the gospel.
If you know an antagonistic person, someone who seems to go out of their way to make your life miserable, someone who’s always trying to stump you with a hard question, it just may be that they’re closer to the kingdom of God than you realize.
Sometimes the people who attack the most or resist the hardest are under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Their lashing out is the last struggle of their old self. They may be closer to conversion than you realize.
No one is beyond the reach of God.
Reflection question: How can you reach out to someone who seems unreachable? Discuss this with believers like you on Harvest Discipleship!
Harvest.org | Greg Laurie
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