“I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.”
Acts 26:9 (NLT)
Paul once believed it was his job to do everything he possibly could to oppose the name of Jesus the Nazarene. He opposed Christianity because one line of thinking controlled his actions. What he believed drew him to persecute, kill, and condemn believers. But what Paul used to believe, he no longer believed. His actions changed when his belief changed, and his life looked different as a result.
Paul imprisoned those who believed in Jesus, agreed with their death sentences, and tried to force them to renounce their faith. He even traveled to distant cities to hound Christians. Yet it was on one of those journeys that he met Jesus. On the road to Damascus, Jesus changed Paul’s thoughts and Paul’s heart. The man who once hated believers came to love them and draw those far from God to Him through the good news.
Back in John 16, Jesus warned His disciples that people would persecute and kill them while thinking they were serving God. They thought they knew God, but they had never known the Father or Jesus. Paul had been one of those people. He thought he knew God, but his thoughts led him away from God and shaped his actions. The beliefs that once drew Paul to hatred and sin changed through a relationship with Jesus.
Is there anything you still believe that Jesus wants to heal? Isaiah 55 tells us that our thoughts are not His thoughts, and our ways are not His ways. If any belief that is not of God is causing us to do foolish things, I pray Paul’s story encourages us to let God change our minds and our ways. No matter how big or small the thought is, we can experience life change like Paul did…not next week, next month, or next year, but today, in Jesus’ name.