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USED AS AN INSTRUMENT OF GOD (ACTS 9:10-18)

“Used as an instrument of God” is the theme for our reflection. An instrument is a means of pursuing an aim. It is means being used by God as an agent or channel to fulfill his purpose. We shall reflect on the fact that we are called upon to love the lost and perishing by becoming an instrument of God’s grace and deliverance in their lives.

Saul who was also known as Paul encountered the Lord when he was on his way to persecute the believers at Damascus. He became blind as result of the supernatural encounter with the Lord. The Lord could have punished or destroyed him but He was gracious to Him and saved Him. Paul was going to be used for the glory of God and the salvation of many. However, Ananias was surprised and disappointed when the Lord sent him to go and open Saul’s eyes and baptise him. He was surprised and disappointed because Saul was an avowed enemy of the church of Christ. In other words, why would God love and save a sinner who had the approval or permission of the Jewish authority to destroy the Lord’s own people? Again, why would God spare a person who was an instrument of destruction against Christians? Even Ananias, a disciple of Christ could not fully understand the love of God for such an evil person. After God had Ananias him “… Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 9:13-17)

Belove in the Lord, perhaps, the best Ananias could do to please God is to like Saul because the Lord wanted him to be saved. It is difficult to love some people because of their past and what they represented or stood for. It may be hard to accept some people as fellow believers even if they appear to have repented because of the hurt or pain they caused us in the past. The message of the day is that, as children of God we are beneficiaries of God’s grace and love, therefore, we must love others who have also become God’s instruments and children regardless of their past. God welcomes all and sundry who are willing to repent and become beneficiaries of His salvation and grace, our only duty is to avail ourselves to be used by the Lord as instrument to evangelise and revive the lost and the perishing. This is the reason Jesus came into the world to save us, therefore, He assures us that “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him”. (John 3:16-17). Let us go out there and become God’s instrument of transformation in the lives of people like Saul, for the Lord has a purpose for using such people as His instrument to save more people from eternal death. Let us have unconditional love for the lost and perishing and those willing to repent so that we can win more souls for the Lord.

It is instructive to note that, formally we were also lost but Jesus found us, saved us and have made us instruments of transformation and salvation in the lives of others who are yet to come to His saving knowledge and salvation like Saul. Jesus has made us instruments of transformation in the world of sin when He commissioned us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)” We have seen how God used Paul as an instrument after his transformation to impact the Gentile world. Many pagans or idol worshippers became believers or Christians through the missionary and evangelistic activities of Paul and his team. Paul captured the summary of God’s aim of using us as instruments or agents of transformation in the world when he wrote “if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19). Wherever you find yourself as a Christian, remember that you are an instrument of transformation and a catalyst of reconciliation between the lost and perishing and Jesus Christ. You have been chosen to bring light to where there is the darkness so that those in darkness of sin and death shall encounter the eternal light of salvation through the power of the Gospel.

In summary, we have discovered or learnt that we are called upon to love the lost and perishing by becoming an instrument of God’s grace and deliverance in their lives.

PRAYER

Dear Lord Jesus, help us to develop unconditional love for those who may have hurt us in past. Make us an instrument of transformation in their lives. May we reflect and radiate your perfect love and light in our interactions and relationship with others. Amen.