Daily Devotional • July 5
A Reading from Acts 9:10-19
10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,
Meditation
Living in the world can be difficult because of prejudice. What I mean is that a person might hold a strong feeling of hostility against you over a real or fancied grievance. You may not even be aware that this person holds something against you, but what if that person was in a position of authority, where other people would listen to what he said? What if the person demonized your character, where could you turn? What if no one wanted to help you, what would you do?
This very scenario plays out every day in this broken world and people’s lives are changed. This same scenario has been occurring for a long time; around AD 35 Saul of Tarsus was roaming around Jerusalem dragging Christians off to prison based on their beliefs. The Lord confronted Saul, and in fact, temporarily blinded him to convert him into an evangelist for the Lord. The Lord called on Ananias to lay hands on Saul to restore his sight and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Naturally, Ananias was very skeptical of Saul, because of his reputation of prejudice against Christians. Jesus reassured Ananias who then laid hands on Saul. Because of Ananias’ willingness, Saul went on to preach to all who would listen, “Jesus really is the Son of God.”
This is a powerful story of conversion and calling. The word of God produces a conversion in the new believer’s life, transforming it. When Jesus Christ enters the heart of the converted one by faith, they are born again. God wants to create new life in the converted believer, so each can reflect that image as a light shining into a dark broken world of prejudice. Are you shining into that dark broken world?
♱
Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
St. Francis Episcopal Church, Houston
The Diocese of Nebbi – The Church of the Province of Uganda
