A Closer Walk

Saul of Tarsus was a very zealous man. He persecuted the brand-new followers of the Lord Jesus, even to the point of putting them to death. Because of this he had a very dramatic encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. "And it came about that as he journeyed, he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' And he said, 'Who art Thou, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but rise, and enter the city, and it shall be told to you what you must do,'" Acts 9:3-6 NASB.

This encounter changed Saul's life forever. His name was changed. "But Saul, who was also called Paul...” Acts 13:9 NASB. He became an Apostle; and not just an Apostle, but an Apostle to the Gentiles (a Gentile is any person that is not a Jew.) And we can praise the Lord that he did, because that opened the door for us, you and I, to be saved from the wrath of God, and to be included in the Kingdom of God as His children. Hallelujah! And, oh by the way, Saul or Paul as we now know him, wound up being used by God to write about two thirds of our New Testament. From persecuting the church, to becoming an Apostle and writing two thirds of our New Testament; now that is a dramatic change in a person's life!
To get him to change his course Saul of Tarsus required a dramatic encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing what we know about the Apostle Paul and his zealous nature, a gentle nudge would seem to be almost useless to get him to change direction. He needed a dramatic encounter. But how about us? Do we need a dramatic encounter with the Lord Jesus to change our course? On the other hand, sometimes we are too easily influenced by our culture or circumstance and sometimes may even seem to change with each new breeze that blows through.
The Old Testament prophet Elijah had a confrontation with four hundred and fifty prophets of the pagan god Baal. “'Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God.' And all the people answered and said, 'That is a good idea,'” 1 Kings 18:24 NASB. So they called on Baal. “And it came about when midday was past, that they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention,” 1 Kings 18:29 NASB. They could not get their god with a little 'g' to act to bring fire down from heaven to burn the ox which was being offered on their altar.
Then it was Elijah's turn. “And Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob...with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord...Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said 'Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.'” (Scholars tell us that each of these pitchers would have held about a bathtub full of water, 30 or 40 gallons each.) “And he said, 'Do it a second time,' and they did it a second time. And he said, 'Do it a third time,' and they did it a third time. And the water flowed around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water,” 1 Kings 18:31-35 NASB. So now Elijah's ox, the wood, the altar, and the ground surrounding the altar are soaking wet.
“Then it came about at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, 'Oh Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that Thou, O Lord, art God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again.' Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, 'The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God'.” 1 Kings 18:36-39 NASB. Then Elijah captured all the prophets of Baal and slew them.
Elijah was used as an example here because after these wondrous events Queen Jezebel threatened Elijah and promised that she would kill him. This terrified him so much, even right after what he had just done and witnessed, that he ran away and hid in a cave at Horeb. After performing all these mighty deeds, an earthly Queen scared him to his core. And aren't we the same way? After our Lord has provided for us, or kept us safe, or even kept us out of trouble, don't we sometimes become frightened of earthly things?
So we don't want to be carried away by every wind of doctrine. But we also shouldn't be so zealous of what we are doing that it takes a dramatic encounter with our Lord to change our course. We would likely prefer to be in the camp of those who only require a gentle nudge. Agreed?