A Personal History

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called….

Ephesians 4:1

Paul did not become ‘the prisoner of the Lord’ overnight.  There was a chain of events which led to this conclusion.  If we survey his personal history, we can seek to understand how this spiritual, intellectual, practical giant came to be ‘the prisoner of the Lord.’  According to him, he was, ‘circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.’  We know from Acts 7, that he was a member of the group who stoned Stephen to death as the first martyr of the New Testament era of the church.  Acts 9 shows us that he was actively engaged in persecuting believers.  In that same chapter, we have the account of Christ confronting him in person on the road to Damascus.  From that day forward, Saul of Tarsus began to grow into Paul the Apostle.  He would become the foremost theologian and missionary of the New Testament era.  He went everywhere proclaiming the Person and work of Christ.  This would bring him into conflict with the religious and the secular authorities.  If he had been willing to cease his proclamation of Christ, he would not have become ‘the prisoner of the Lord.’  His conviction overcame all cowardice.  This is the personal journey of Paul to become who he was and to be where he was.  Actions have consequences.  Paul’s following of Christ, and proclamation of Him, brought him to imprisonment and finally, martyrdom.  Our personal history will be different than Paul’s, yet, we are also followers of Christ.  We have a commission to proclaim Christ and continue to make Him known.

Our Gracious Master and our God.
We rejoice that You have led us by Your own example.
We praise You that You will continue to show us,
how to imitate You until we see You face-to-Face.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning