POSITIONAL CHANGE

Acts 9:1-9

In life, change is inevitable. We all experience change because of our environment, education, experiences, motivations, or other significant factors. We can be changing without intentionality. However, there are times in our lives whereby change is absolutely necessary. They are the changes that must take place in order for us to overcome major negative patterns which are leading us to defeat and destruction. They are changes that can determine promotions, rather than demotions in life. I call this TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE. This is what I would like to highlight in this series, Change for the Better.

Are there areas in your life where you need God’s changing power? Are you willing to honestly evaluate what is causing you to have some setbacks? We all have the tendency to consider what other people need to change. L. Tolstoy once commented, “Everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself.” As we begin our new series, I hope that we are prepared to look at ourselves in a mirror to find out what God wants to change in us.

Our chosen text this morning brings us to one of the most radical transformations in the Bible – the conversion of the apostle Paul. This would allow us to see that the root problem concerning our destructive behaviors come from the internal force that has a tremendous influence over our wills. Without overcoming this, experiencing transformational change is impossible. So the most basic change that must take place first and foremost is the positional change. In order for this change to happen, there are three essential needs:

I     THE RIGHT DIRECTION:

Our passage begins with a man named Saul who was on this journey to Damascus to fulfill his personal mission of persecuting the followers of Jesus Christ. Other portions of the Book of Acts can give us additional information about him:

• Rich Heritage = Born in Tarsus, he belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. Being a Jew, yet a citizen of Rome says about his rich family.
• Well Educated = Trained under Gamaliel, one of Israel’s greatest teacher of that time.
• Ambitious = He was advancing up to the ranks of the Pharisees and he had the ability and talents above his peers.
• He was very religious = He was blameless on his zeal for his religion. He followed almost everything to the core.

Unfortunately, despite all of these credentials, he was heading towards a very destructive path. He was a man full of bitterness and hatred. He hated the followers of Jesus or anyone who poses to be a threat to what he believes (v. 1-2). Notice how he is described in the previous chapter:

How could he be so wrong? How could he have missed it? You see, his journey to Damascus only symbolizes the wrong direction of his life. Just like so many people, they assume they are heading to the right direction, only to suffer defeat and destruction.

Saul thought he knew God, only to find out he was going against Him. He assumed that his religion was good enough, only to realize that relationship with God was more important. To give him the right directions, God needed to do two important things:

• Show him the light – our spiritual blindness has kept us from knowing the truth.
• Speak to him from heaven – God spoke to him directly to give him directions.

Later in life, Paul has testified about this experienced in 2 Corinthians 4: 6:

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Do you have the right directions in life? Are you getting them from the right sources? God wants to guide you. Change will never happen without the right direction.

II    THE RIGHT DRIVER:

Going back to the narrative, after Saul was struck by the light from heaven, God also started speaking to him in verse 4 - "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

If you carefully examine Saul’s response, you will have a sense that he immediately acknowledge the fact that he was in the presence of the Almighty - "Who are you, Lord?" The use of the title Lord, which means Sovereign Ruler or Master, establishes this truth.

Then, the Lord went ahead and introduced himself as Jesus. Now, this is very important. All along, Saul considered Jesus as an enemy. I would like to believe that he had heard about all the stories about Jesus’ message and miracles. The dilemma for him, I’m sure, is whether is willing to believe that Jesus is everything they said he is. Is he the Lord, the true master? Saul was at a crossroad. Would he say yes to Jesus? His obedience in the next verses proves that he made the right call.

Who is the driver of your life today? Who calls the shots? The Bible is clear that Jesus deserves the throne in our heart.

If we stumble on this most basic truth, there is surely no hope in us. Let’s us not compete with him in running our lives. We must learn to rest in His leading. Being our great shepherd, He will surely lead us to a better life.

III   THE RIGHT DESTINATION:

When you continue your reading in Acts 9, God sends a prophet to Saul by the name of Ananias to restore his sight, and most specifically explain God’s ultimate purpose of his journey.

God has a special plan for Saul’s life. He was not just to exist. His existence has a special meaning – To be a chosen instrument to carry the name of Jesus to the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. It is a sacred privilege that will include many sufferings.

In essence, God wanted Saul to fix his eyes on his ultimate destination. God would like to impress to him how his experiences, talents, and gifts will fall in place in the big picture.

How is this related to change? The connection is obvious. The reason why there is a need for constant improvements is just so that an individual can move closer and closer to the fulfillment of his life’s purpose.

Are you fulfilling God’s purpose in your life today? What do need to overcome or change in order for God to use you? God wants to continually change you for the better.