Word for Wednesday
At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. Acts 26:13
Every few years, we have a series of testimony meetings in our Assembly, when one or both of the brothers speaking in the Gospel meeting will give their testimonies. For most of us, the conversion stories become familiar, and we notice when the brother who is relating the account of his conversion adds or omits a detail not mentioned the time before. Sometimes the brother will take an entirely different route to relating the account. These differences help to make the testimonies interesting. If we read the different accounts of Paul’s conversion, we will also note some differences, too. But one of the differences relates more with Paul’s appreciation of his salvation than with his desire to make the account more interesting.
In Chapter 22, when Paul relates his conversion account before the multitude in Jerusalem, he describes a great light that shone down from Heaven on the Damascus road. If we read the account in Chapter 9, we find it is merely called a light. Does the light get brighter every time Paul tells about it? No, but his appreciation of the brightness increases. It was that brightness that arrested him, that caused him to forget his campaign of persecution, that brought him to humble submission to the Lord Jesus. And so, every time he tells about it, he emphasizes how important it was to him that the light was so bright. It represented to him how important it was for God to bring him to his knees and to his senses. And it reminds us today how God dealt with us in bringing us to himself at the time of our own conversion.
I did not experience any bright lights at the time of my salvation. In fact, the old barn where we were staying was only dimly lit by a few lanterns. Nothing miraculous occurred in terms of sights or sounds or impressions. The miraculous occurred within my soul, as I was brought by faith to trust in the Lord Jesus. And I am sure that all of those reading this can say the same. Paul’s experience with the bright light was unique to his conversion, and was probably never repeated. But as we recall and relate those events that led up to our conversion, we can see the hand of God in directing and moving and striving with us, just as surely as we read of the bright light of Paul’s account. And those dealings of God in our experience are just as important and as exciting to us as the bright light was to Paul.
What events did God bring about to lead you to the point of your salvation? Do those events become brighter and more special to your soul as the days go by? -Jim MacIntosh