Coming to know the Lord

The first two August Sunday 10.30 ABC Communion Services have concentrated on the passage Acts 9:1-18, the story of Saul’s (or Paul’s) conversion on the road to Damascus. As I was reading this passage in preparation for my talk at the service on 10th August, I reflected on that moment of accepting and acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Paul’s conversion was as dramatic as can be, and although some can identify with having such extraordinary and vivid moments of first engagement for the majority of us it is far less extraordinary but no less powerful and awe inspiring.

As I stopped to reflect the great Charles Wesley hymn came to mind ‘And can it be’ the song I chose for my full immersion baptism all those years ago, and in particular the lines ‘I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; My chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth and followed Thee’. In those words it summed up my becoming a Christian in 1991. It wasn’t a Paul moment, but I do remember all of a sudden having a clearer picture of the type of person I needed to be. My journey had started a few years earlier, but I was not listening, however through the prayers of others, Jesus eventually found his way in.

So this week’s, thought for the week is both a challenge for those of you who are reading this, and have not yet let the Lord into their lives to take the opportunity to do so, and an encouragement to those praying for others to come to know the Lord.

Alan