Saul of Tarsus was so arrogant in his religious
zeal that he may well have expected to hear from God—but not in the
way God did speak to him.
Did the Lord resist when the Romans put the nails
through His hands and feet? No, for “he was led as a lamb to the
slaughter” (Is. 53: 7).
Both John and Jesus were to be “great” (Luke 1:
15, 32), but of Elizabeth’s son the vital qualification of “before
[the] Lord” (v15) is added.
There was once a new convert who put a cross in
the margin of His Bible against every Scripture he did not
understand. These queried verses formed the basis of his
conversation with every believer he met. Need I say more?
Go to Him because it is not the size of your
faith that matters. What matters is the object of your faith.
A shining face never sees itself (see Exod. 34:
29).
Jehu said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for
Jehovah” (2 Kings 10: 16), but zeal is not affection (see v31).
The world will have its “man of sin” (2 Thess. 2:
3); the believer has His “man of sorrows” (Is. 53: 3).
A Brother Indeed
Many years ago, a well-known Bible teacher came
to minister in the Christian meeting we attended. I was a small
child at the time, and so I can recollect nothing of this brother’s
ministry. What I do remember, however, is that when he came to our
home afterwards, he took leave of my parents downstairs and came
into the bedroom I shared with my younger sibling to read us a
bedtime story. This was a surprise, and I was impressed that this
‘important’ man had taken the trouble to speak to us in this way.
This was over 50 years ago, and the brother is now with the Lord.
These days, I now have one or two items of his ministry in pamphlet
form, and they are interesting enough to read. Mention his name to
me, however, and I do not think of that teaching ministry at all but
that he put value on time spent with two small
children. That was the ministry I received then.
