Technicolor Joy: A Seven-Day Devotional by Skip HeitzigExemplo

Knocked Off Your Horse

Before Paul came to Christ, he was strongly anti-Christian. He wrote, "I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man" (1 Timothy 1:13). In fact, he was a powerful religious leader who at one point asked the Jewish high priest for permission to travel to Damascus to harass Christians. But as he was riding toward the city, he literally saw the light—a light from heaven—and was knocked off his horse. He heard the risen Christ ask, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" (Acts 9:4).

Saul of Tarsus, who had been the enemy of Jesus Christ, was so utterly changed by this experience that he became Paul the apostle. Jesus was no longer the object of his scorn but the object of his life. Paul became committed to spreading the gospel of Jesus regardless of the cost. As we saw in yesterday's devotional, he resolved, "If I live, I'm going to serve Christ. If I die, then I gain, because I will be with Christ."

Our culture doesn't allow for the thinking that dying might be better than living. We hold on to life so tenaciously—just one more year, one more month, one more day, one more breath. The world simply doesn't understand death from a Christian mindset. Instead, many people see death as the worst possible outcome. For them, to live isn't Christ, so to die can't be gain.

But think about it from the Christian perspective: part of God's work in your life as a believer is to eventually give you a glorified body with which you can dwell in His presence forever. That can't happen until you die. That's why Paul could be "well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). He knew death wasn't the end but the beginning of life with God. And he had immense joy because of it. But it all started with the Lord getting a hold of his life in a dramatic way.

How about you? Have you had a Damascus road experience with Jesus? He doesn't have to knock you off a horse to become real to you. But He does shine the light of His truth through His Word, His people, and your circumstances. Have you been fighting His call on your life? Why not give up the fight and take hold of the life-changing joy He's offering you?