An Encounter with the risen Christ

Acts 9:1-9

¹ Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. ² He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.

³ As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

⁵ “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.

And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! ⁶ Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷ The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! ⁸ Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. ⁹ He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.

Having a “road to Damascus” experience is proverbial for a radical change in character or behaviour.

Saul possibly had one of the biggest turn-arounds in the whole of scripture. In this chapter of history that we are reading today, Paul goes from being fully committed to the destruction of Jesus’ followers to being a fully devoted follower of Jesus.

This is the potential of an encounter with Jesus.

In my own life, I have had moments where I have encountered Jesus, and it has changed me for good.

Which makes me wonder, what can I do to make sure that I am encountering Jesus as often as I can? Are their times where I could have had an encounter, but I was too distracted, too disengaged?

How about you? Are you missing out on intersecting with God because of something you are choosing? Or perhaps it’s something you aren’t doing enough of?

Lord, I pray that we would encounter you more!

Written by Ps Justin Ware