"I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent," 1 Timothy 1:13.
Who was? Paul. Whom did he insult so violently? Jesus. The apostle Paul did. The man who persecuted God's church violently. Tried to destroy it. The foremost of sinners. But he received mercy. And why did such a man receive the Lord's grace? So that Jesus would show the rest of us his limitless patience with us as we come to believe in Christ. This same man, now a follower of Jesus, became the Bible's outstanding missionary of Christ to the nations, wrote much of the New Testament. But before all that, the Lord sought him out. And ordered him to snap to. And he did.
We visit with a brother or sister today and reflect soberly on our own former disobedience to God. And, together, we give deepest thanks that the Lord sought us out and received our faith as sufficient for his grace.
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