Emmanuel Still

(Act 9:17 KJV)  And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

(Proverbs 2 also read)

At what point did Saul the persecutor of the church become Paul the Apostle?  Was it when he was struck down?  Was it when Jesus first spoke to him?  Was it sometime as he lay without sight and not eating?  I am not sure we will really know.  Keep in mind that even after he had a change of heart and began preaching Jesus he still had years of instruction before him.  He had to learn the basics.  He had to go back and reevaluate all of the theology he thought he knew and restudy the scriptures.  He had to learn the obedience of listening.

He had a long road before him but he had to take it a day at a time.

Like us.  I don’t know where you are in your walk with the Lord.  I am sometimes not sure where I am.  It is so easy to get concerned about what the future holds.  Sometimes that future is a life time.  At the other extreme it might involve what the pastor has to say this morning.  We need to thrive where we are.  Remember one of the names given to Jesus, first by Isaiah and later by Gabriel, Emmanuel.  God is with us.

So?  Rejoice.  It is early in the year.  It is early in the rest of your life.  God is with us, even after Christmas.