Daily Reading: Galatians 1
Scripture Focus: Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead... (Galatians 1.1-2)
Devotional Thought: Paul was an apostle. Yet, Paul had not met Jesus while Christ walked on this earth in his incarnate body. A careful reading of Acts 1, reveals that an apostle had to be an eyewitness of Jesus - to have personally known Jesus - not just heard about him through the witness of others. So, how could he make the formal claim of apostleship?
Paul's apostleship wasn't from man. Paul was careful to point out that his authority did not rest on any ecclesiastical body. Human authority had actually cause him to persecute Christ and Christians. Nor was his apostleship through man. While Paul had heard about Jesus through the Christians he had persecuted, none of those testimonies had convinced him that Jesus was the Son of God.
So, how did Paul become an apostle?
It was through Jesus Christ. Though Christ had ascended to the Father, and no longer walked on this earth in his human body, he appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus. And, when he appeared, he commissioned him in his apostleship! But, it was also through God the Father. The same power that raised Christ from the dead, also raised Paul from spiritual death. That power was from God.
The same thing is true today. We need to remember that when we testify to others about the grace of God. The power to convince others does not rest in us. That power is from God. We want our family and friends to know Jesus, so we bear witness to his saving grace. But, we must pray and depend on God to do the work of convincing and converting. When we try to do it, it becomes coercion - never a good thing!
Let's honor the "Division of Labor."
Prayer: Lord, thank you for saving me, and for giving me the wonderful privilege of bearing witness to your amazing grace. Help me to allow you to do your work of convincing and converting the lost. Amen.
Psalm of the Day: Psalm 106.19-23
19 They made a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
20 They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore he said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
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