Not my will, but Yours be done

Galatians 1:24   ^“And they were glorifying God because of me.”

What a testimony!  A life that is so altered that those who were once afraid of this man, Saul, now glorify God because of him.  Here are the verses that come first.

I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; ²³ but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they were glorifying God because of me. (vs 22-23)

He who once was _______________ is now _________________.  That is the power of the Work of Jesus Christ in any of us, and potentially, all of us.  But there is a lot of work to be done within us, to get from here to there.  When I look at Paul’s transformed life, I see a well-intentioned man, who thought he was doing and saying what God wanted him to do and say.  But in actuality, his encounter with the true and risen Jesus Christ,  literally knocks him off “his high horse” and renders him helpless and completely dependent on the Lord’s mercy and grace to both transform and restore him.  Let’s look at Acts 9

³ As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴ and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” ⁷ The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

We all, too, need this kind of encounter with Christ.  The Apostle James tells us, ² For we all stumble in many ways… (James 3:2)  Are we willing to be so transformed?  Let us come to Christ daily and ask Him to show us where we are riding on some kind of “high horse,” asking Him to knock us off it, and lead us by the hand, wherever He wants us to go.  It is then that we will have our lives so transformed that people will glorify God because of the changes they see in us through Christ.

Lord Jesus, not my Will, but Yours be done.  Amen!