Devotional Blog - Monday, January 23rd

Daily Devotional for Monday, January 23rd

God Appears to Ananias

“You cannot teach an old dog new trick.” “A leopard cannot change its spots.” Those are just a couple of expressions we use to express the idea that people really cannot change. In our minds, once a person is identified as no good, then no good they must stay for their entire lives. It is a fairly uncharitable view of human nature; sadly, to a certain extent it is correct. Not only do people tend to stay as they are, but others know about it; in other words, their reputation proceeds them.

Paul certainly had a reputation among the new Christians, and it was not a good one. So, it must have been quite a shock to Ananias when the Lord appeared in his vision and told him what his mission was to be. In fact, he voiced his concerns and doubt to the Lord, who informed Ananias that Paul was His chosen vessel to reach the Gentiles. So, off Ananias went.

We do that too, do we not? We hesitate to reach out to, “those people.” After all, they are who they are, and cannot change. We wonder why, “that guy,” has wandered into our church. We assume daily that people really never change. Even worse than that, we act as if folks have to become different than who they are to be worthy to come to the Lord. That right there is our problem friends. None of us are worthy. The rich, clean cut business man is no more worthy before God than the meth head down the road.

How, then can we change? The answer is Jesus; Jesus can change anybody, even when we really cannot change ourselves.