City Life Starter

Written by Megan Meier

The Word

“…but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.”

Acts 26:20-21

Megan’s Musings

In thirteen years, the Apostle Paul nearly single-handedly spread Christianity throughout the then-known Roman world:

Keep in mind, this was before airplanes, everything was by ship, donkey, or the traveler’s own feet. I admire his extreme focus.         At the time of this passage, Paul was arrested and making an appeal to King Agrippa in Caesarea, giving his testimony to him and the rest of the audience. Paul would have been excused of his “offenses,” if he had not asked to see Caesar (Acts 25:25), who at the time was Nero, known as the most cruel Roman emperor in history. Paul intended to witness to him in what would be his final missionary journey (the green line on the map, which begins in Caesarea).

When giving his testimony, Paul spoke of his life before Christ. He was called Saul, with a Type A lifestyle in a completely different direction, a Pharisee (a religious sect of Jews that added rules to appear more righteous) who persecuted Christians and truly thought he was doing God’s work. Saul intended to do good, but his direction implied otherwise. Direction, not intention, lead to destination (from Pastor Andy Stanley in The Principle of the Path).

Paul was the very definition of a 180 degree turn in the right direction, one of the OG’s of a complete change to Jesus. He went from a zealous Pharisee persecuting Christians to making the mission of Jesus Christ his sole focus. He traveled all over and preached the good news to all people, Jew and Gentile. Our testimony becomes our ministry, Paul helped guide a lot of people in the right direction, not just with repentance, but with a complete lifestyle change, even preaching to the Jews who tried to kill him (major irony considering his Pharisaic background). 

Application

Just being a good person by the world’s standards isn’t enough. Righteousness through Jesus Christ is the right way. Are your actions reflecting your repentance? Your deeds matching your creeds?  Has your relationship with Jesus become stronger in the last few years? Repentance is the starting point, a lifestyle change is what makes the difference in your journey. 

Prayer

Dear Lord, guide me to the direction that leads to a stronger relationship with You. In Your Name I pray, amen.