SAULO

Saul was a privileged man. His background was enviable: He had been born into a respectable family, as a citizen of the most powerful nation in the world.

Source

His parents had complied with all the requirements and rites that society and religion impose on a person who aspires to be recognized by men. He was educated in the best schools and graduated from one of the best universities of his time.

However, something was wrong inside. All his knowledge, education and influence could not drown the desperate cries of his spirit. Saul did not live in peace. His father had been a hard and severe man, who did not admit mistakes, who reaped where he had not sown.

Since childhood, Saul felt rejected. The hurtful words and the blows had wreaked havoc inside him. Little by little, his heart began to harden and fill with darkness. The pain turned into resentment, and the resentment into hatred.

Saul began to live a new life. From that day, the will of God became his highest priority

The worst thing is that the bitterness had contaminated him to such an extent that a desire for revenge began to take hold of him. Maybe that's why when he first heard those men talk about God's love, he got angry and said: "How dare you talk about love? Love does not exist!"

But when he heard them exhort the people to repent and believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior to receive the forgiveness of their sins, he could no longer do so. That went against their traditions and beliefs. It exploded in a burst of courage, and breathing threats, swore to pursue them until they were finished.

One day, while on his way to another city on one of his business trips, he was suddenly surrounded by a radiance of light from heaven, so intense, so perfect, so pure. He fell on the ground and heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"

It was a firm voice but at the same time full of love. Saul had never experienced something like this. "Who are you, Lord?" He asked. "I am Jesus, whom you persecute." Upon hearing those words, Saul's heart almost stopped. All his life he had longed to receive the love he was experiencing at that moment. But he never imagined that he would come from the One to whom the men he persecuted preached.

Actually, Saul, blind with rancor, wanted someone to pay for what he had suffered. What I did not know was that, indeed, Jesus Christ had paid the price for love. On the cross he was wounded for our rebellions, crushed for our sins; suffering our pains took the punishment of our peace upon him.

Saul, trembling and fearful, said: "Lord, what do you want me to do? This question represents the triumph of God's love over the hardness and stubbornness of man's heart and is the greatest homage we can give to Jesus.

Saul began to live a new life. From that day, the will of God became his highest priority. He left aside his own agenda and his selfish plans and embraced the purposes of Jesus Christ with all his strength.

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