I think the story of Paul is one of the most dramatic in Scripture. Saul, as he was first known, was a Pharisee — religiously flawless in keeping the Jewish law. He first thought of Jesus as merely a man disrupting the status quo. Saul was zealous in his pursuit of Jesus’ followers and instrumental in having many of them imprisoned or killed.
But one day on the road to Damascus, Saul came face to face with the God he had been fighting ( Acts 9:1-19 ). A light blinded him. The voice of Jesus asked, “Why are you persecuting me?” From that point, the man who would later take the name of Paul, began a new journey of faith in God through Jesus Christ.
Of all the stories from the Old and New Testament, from the parting of the Red Sea to the raising of Lazarus from the dead, the conversion of Paul may be the most miraculous. With Paul, God changed a human heart. Just as He promised in Ezekiel.
Through the prophet Ezekiel, God promised He would take away the heart of stone from the hardened Israelites and replace it with a heart of flesh ― malleable, tender and God-fearing.
It is discouraging to see the hate and violence in the world today. People seem so hard-hearted. But we serve a God who can change a heart. We cannot legislate morality or love. But God can turn hearts of stone into loving hearts of flesh, and like Ananias to Paul, we can be ready to help them when He does.
Lord, work in the hearts of people. Turn our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. And, Lord, if there is any hard-heartedness in my heart, replace it with a heart of flesh. Then show us how to help others walk in your light. Amen.
Go Deeper — If there is someone in your life who has rejected God and needs the love of Jesus, pray for God to replace their heart of stone with a heart of flesh. Then be ready to help them as God leads.
Photo Credit: Raechel Romero