A Divine Choice

Acts 22:13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.

Acts 22:14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.

The real walk with Jesus starts here – after you have received your sight. We were blind in our sins – we were quite comfortable in our past life. But the lord came and met us, and made us uncomfortable! (Remember Saul fell down from his steed and onto his knees before the lord!) Praise the lord for his mercy of giving that holy unrest till we are settled IN HIM. Oh what false comfort is there in the arms of a Delilah! But the night will end, the comfort will end; the world has nothing of eternal value to offer. Arise, awake and decide to dedicate ourselves to the Person who made us uncomfortable in this world, and prepared (and is preparing us) for eternity. How many have slept and not woken up ?! And yet, his mercy rests on us today for having given us this day to live for his glory. He (Jesus Christ) came to give sight to the blind and to set the captives free. Yes , that includes me and you; we who are blind to the things of the spirit were given the heavenly wisdom and vision when we received the gift of the holy spirit. We who were in the clutches of the world were truly given deliverance and freedom when Christ came into our lives.

When the calling of the lord is on you (and it is on every believer – Heb 3:1), the best thing that you can do initially is to realize that the calling is there. Oh so many have wasted their earthly lives in pursuit of the profane (and not the holy) gaining themselves huge sheaves of hay which shall be burnt up on the day of the lord. Let us prepare to refine our pursuits to make it aligned to God’s plan, so that we may use our lives to gain gold and precious stones which will be revealed when tested by the Holy fire.

A few of the thoughts from this passage (Acts 22:13-14) :-

Ananias: Please note that Saul (of a high estate) didn’t look to Ananias for his calling. Ananias was just a vessel used by the lord in those days to announce the calling to the mighty apostle of God. (And Paul was indeed baptized by Ananias). The calling was from God and Paul submitted to it.

Brother: Ananias calls Paul Brother. This is the amazing consequence of new birth. When we are born again, we are introduced into the family of God (Eph 2:19) and we are brothers (and sisters) with the rest of the saints of God. God becomes our father and Christ our elder brother. I have believer brothers and sisters who are closer to me in fellowship than my own blood relatives (because the holy seed takes precedence over earthly seed)

Receive thy sight: In our earthly ministry, we are reflections of how Jesus ministered on this earth.

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

And if he gave sight to the blind, so shall we when the lord commissions us for the same. Thus Ananias spoke the word which unlocked his sight in the heavens. And for a person who needs to minister to the needs of others (spiritual), he has to have his spiritual eyes opened. Else, it will be the state of the religious churches and world religions (where the blind are leading the blind on a fast track to eternal destruction)

Divine choice: The God of our fathers has chosen you. Amen. (Gal 1:15, John 15:16) It is always the will of the Father and Son that chooses us into any work for the lord. I really believe it. Even if we have no solid disposition towards Christian ministry and work, when the calling of the lord is on you, he will equip you (though he does take the person through a breaking process – Paul had to go to Arabia in isolation to learn of the holy spirit all the things which would later become foundational for the operation of the new covenant churches). It remains for us to make our calling and election sure.

2Pet 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

Know His will: This is foundational for us – to know His will for us. The safest place for us is always to be in the center of the perfect will of God for us. Not the permissive will of God (which is always less than the perfect). Not as my will, but let it be according to your will. If you have really given the lordship of your life to Jesus, it’s always to be according to His divine will.

See that Just one: See the just one, the BRANCH, Jesus christ. All endeavors for the lord has to start with a fresh vision of the lord. The bible doesn’t say – see your resources, your intelligence, your ability, not even your anointing. But look to Jesus. Behold Him – whose face you should seek daily.

Hear the voice of his mouth: It is so easy to get lost in our heavenly pursuits when we hearken to the voice of the self, the flesh, other men or the devil. Yet, the lord promises to speak to us directly in this new covenant age (while he only spoke occasionally to the prophets and a few select ones in the old testament times). Continuously hear his voice – not just the “Saul, Saul” call in the beginning, but a continuous voice of the holy spirit who always speaks only from the will of the father and who leads us to Jesus always.

May the lord bless us as we desire to respond to the continuous call of God in our lives.