The Lord. . . hath sent me that thou might receive thy sight.

-Acts 9:17

     Easter is an interesting Holiday. There are a lot of God/Christ themed specials on TV during this week. Many churches are blessed to see members in attendance that they hadn't seen since...well, last Easter. The same world that wants to ignore God's word when it comes to certain issues now do an about face and actually promote (in the most superficial sense) Jesus. The apostle Paul wrote that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1). His faith was anything but superficial.

     One writer said that when Paul received his sight he also received "spiritually an insight into the person of Jesus Christ so much so that the whole of his subsequent life and preaching was nothing but Jesus Christ". He would later write that he had "determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified (1 Co 2:21)." No attraction was ever allowed to hold the mind and soul of Paul save the face of Jesus Christ. It could also be said that Paul received his life's work. Paul would call himself an ambassador for Christ (2 Co 5:20), a prisoner of the Lord (Eph 4:1), an Apostle of Jesus Christ (1 Co 1:1). He would also write, "We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body" (2 Corinthians 4:10).

     After encountering the risen Jesus, Paul seems to have had no identity outside of the Lord and often described himself in relation to the Lord. When Jesus saved Paul, he had a plan for Paul's life. He had chosen Paul to carry (bear) His name to "Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15).

     Paul received his physical sight when he encountered the risen Jesus but he also received much more. We too have encountered the risen Jesus. We have encountered Him through His Word spoken by His Apostles (Heb 1:1; John 17:20; Eph 3:4; 2 Pet 3:15). Jesus did not cause us to physically blind so we have no need to receive our sight in the first sense that Paul did. We have been cut to the heaart by the Word which then caused us to re pent and be baptized (Acts 2:37-38). We "have obeyed from the heart a certain form of doctrine" (Rom 6:17). My question for us who believe today relates to Paul's "insight".

     As we gather today with our families and eat our Easter hams, jelly beans, and chocolate bunnies (my favorite!) let's ask ourselves some hard questions. Have we really allowed ourselves to be changed by our encounter with the risen Lord? Do we think of ourselves/define ourselves by our relationship to Jesus. Has that relationship become the most important one? Have we determined not to know anything, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Maybe we have become like the ones that I referred to at the beginning. Maybe we deny Jesus in all of the facets our lives and then today decide to superfi cially honor Him.

I hope and pray that I can be more like Paul.

Happy Easter!

Bro Eli