Acts 22:10 And I said, What shall I do, LORD? And the Lord said to me, Arise, and go into Damascus… These words bring before us — I. THE FIRST AND STRONGEST INSTINCT OF A NEWBORN SOUL. "How shall I express my gratitude and love? how let Thee and others know how thankful I am?" Saul's heaviest punishment would have been consignment to a life of inactivity. The Master seemingly could hardly find work enough for him to do. It is not more natural for a fountain to flow, or a star to shine, or a seraph to sing, than it is for a new-born soul to work. II. A MAN WHO HAD MADE AN ABSOLUTE SURRENDER OF HIMSELF TO THE LORD. From that hour on he was in the hands of the Master as clay is in the hands of the potter. Much that passes under the name of consecration is little more than a profane attempt to compound with the Master, giving up that which we do not care to keep, that we may retain that with which we cannot afford to part. III. A MAN WHO, having made an absolute self-surrender, LET THE LORD CHOOSE HIS LIFE WORK FOR HIM. When he heard the command to depart from Jerusalem (ver. 18), Paul ventured reverently to expostulate. He said, as it were, "Lord, it seems to me that this is the place, above all others, for me to preach the gospel. My past life will help me here. They know how I persecuted Thy people. And when I tell them of that great light which I saw on the way to Damascus; when they see the wonderful change which has come over me — they will have to lend me their ears. Let Peter go to the Gentiles, let John go, let James go; they will not listen to any of them as they will listen to me." Now, if you and I had been there we should have taken the same view, and yet it was soon very evident that the Master was right and the servant wrong (vers. 21, 22). Had Saul stayed at Jerusalem, his career would have been brought to an untimely end. It is a great thing to let the Lord choose our life work for us. Many in choosing their life consult their ease or their pride or their avarice or their ambition, and if they go to the Lord at all, it is after they have made their choice. IV. PAST LIFE AN ELEMENT OF INSPIRATION. Paul felt that he had so much to undo. Can you think of anything more touching than his allusion to Stephen (ver. 20)? Avenge my death, cries the blood of every martyr, by waging a war of extermination against sin. Is your past life an element of your inspiration? Does no ghost of a slighted opportunity, or a neglected duty, or an abused mercy, or a murdered moment summon thee to greater fidelity? Hast thou no lost time to redeem, no neglected work to make up? Does it not become thee to be about thy Master's work? You cannot recall the past, but you may do much toward redeeming it. (J. B. Shaw, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. |
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