Daily Devotional for Monday, April 17

Paul Talks About Ananias

“And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard,” Acts 22:14, 15.

Giving our personal testimony is one of the most edifying things we do as Christians. The saved need to hear them for encouragement, and the lost need to hear them for an example to follow. Every testimony is different because people come to salvation in different places and stages of life. On one hand, there are children saved at the age of six after being raised in church by Christian parents. On the other hand, many have something like Paul’s road to Damascus moment. Some come to salvation after lives filled with rebellion and sin. Sometimes those with less exciting salvation stories can feel slightly less adequate than those with the road to Damascus stories.
What we need to keep in mind is that in the end, we are all saved in the same way from exactly the same position. We all entered this world as lost sinners and need the same salvation. This matters, because in the end, the story we tell is about the power of God to salvation for all men, and not the depth of rebellion we may have lived. In the end, we are all called in the same way Ananias informed Paul of his call.
Not only are you called to salvation, but you are also called to tell the world about it. You are not called to give theology lessons to the world, but to tell others what you have seen and heard in your own life. Therefore, we are called witnesses and not lawyers because we can best report what happened to us, and what we saw and heard.

THOUGHT: In Heaven, every testimony will be the same, praising the One who saved us by His grace.

Wally Fry