With all the rhetoric this last week regarding tracking Muslims, closing mosques, allowing or not allowing Syrian refugees into the country, I'd like to look at it all in a different perspective.
I'm a born again Christian. I believe that the Bible is all truth and that it is as relevant today as it was at the time of writing. Therefore, I believe that it should be used to guide my life. In the Holy Bible, there is a story about Saul and Paul.
Saul was an evil man. His enemy were the Christians. Not only did he kill the Christians, the Bible tells us he enjoyed killing Christians. We know from other texts that he used many different ways to kill them - dismembering, feeding them to the lions, beheading them, and so on.
Paul, is one of our greatest prophets. He was a man of God, winning many over to become Christ followers. Many would say he was the main advocate for bringing the Christian church to life. He is credited, with the direction of the Holy Spirit, to writing several of the New Testament chapters. He loved people and bringing them to Christ more than he loved himself.
Saul is Paul and Paul is Saul. He conversion was great and mighty and awesome. God stopped Saul in his tracks and changed his life in a moment.
I did not choose Saul to become Paul, no human did. In fact, if it were up to humans, the only choice he probably would have had was death. Saul was a hated and feared man. But, God saw something different - He sees the world from beginning to end. He knows exactly what must happen and when. He often does not give us the knowledge of what is happening - that is why we have faith.
The same is true for all of us. The person you meet on the street today, has the potential to be someone different a year from now. The Syrian refugee today may very well become someone diffeerent next year. What is our role in this story? If you are a Christian, your role is to listen to God. What does He want us, want you, to do differently today? Who does He want us, want you, to minister to today? How does He want us, want you, to change a life today?
