God Glorified in Me

Today’s readings:
Genesis 43,44; Psalm 24; Galatians 1

Galatians 1:23-24
But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me.

And thus we get a glimpse into Paul’s life as a convert. Some interesting points to glean here.

1) Don’t let our past haunt us. Paul certainly feel the deep guilt to even claim to be the “chief of sinners”! (1Ti 1:15) Yet as it turned out, he did not allow his past to cripple him, but indeed used it as a motivation to reach out to both Jews and Gentiles. In fact, as Jesus taught Simon in Luk 7:40-47, oftentimes, the greater contrast in the conversion, the greater the later conviction. Certainly manifested in Paul here.

2) Anyone and everyone can be used by God. No matter what is our past. No matter what is our background. No matter what our training is. From the worldly king down to the beggar on the street, what only matters is whether we are doing the will of God to the best of our abilities.

3) Certainly, Paul’s life reflected Jesus’ teaching on how we are to conduct ourselves (Mat 5:16). The flip side is, if we were to forsake the faith, the name of God will be blasphemed among men in us. Let the sobering words of Peter remind us in 2Pe 2:20-22, that more serious consequence follows such behavior if ultimately unrepented of.

Wherefore let us be constantly reminded of the greatest cost paid for the greatest privilege accorded to us, that we might live worthy of that greatest call, and let God be glorified in us.