Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, had a resume problem in terms of his early life. He says in Galatians 2: 13, “You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I violently persecuted the church of God and was trying to destroy it.” For ex., a fellow named Stephen was a deacon in the early church. The Council in Jerusalem decreed that he be stoned to death for his witness to Jesus Christ. Paul, who at the time was known as Saul, approved.
One thing that the life of Paul bears out is that when it comes to having a relationship to Jesus Christ, God helps us overcome a bad resume. And it’s not just Paul who bears this out. We’ve all heard stories about people who were living what they said were terrible lives, when they turned away from that life and turned to Jesus. What we hear about less often are people who weren’t so bad as they were just basically indifferent to Jesus. The good news is that you don’t have to have been the devil incarnate to be freed for new life with Jesus. Jesus also frees us from lives of little commitment for a life centered about Jesus. God wants the best for us no matter where we’ve been.-DJ
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