Acts 9:1-8
King James Version (KJV)
And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
If you have stubbornly decided to kick against the pricks, it is you who is going to get badly hurt in the end.You may be carried away by your zealousness for upholding what you consider as keeping the law but it is not my laws you are keeping, said the Lord Jesus Christ to Saul who became apostle Paul after this incident and meeting on the way to Damascus. You claimed that you were helping God in keeping His laws but you yourself have committed murder, even Steven who was my faithful servant (Acts 7: 54-8:1). Now, you shall be blind for a while. Wake-up! This was Saul's wake-up call, because he was doing the things that God never told him to do. He was doing it to please the sinful nature in him.It gave him pride and had developed into destructive arrogance because no one had warned him that what he was doing was sin against God.
Here in the passage above the Lord Jesus Christ stops him from committing this sin.Saul becomes blind so that he will wake-up and sin no more. He wakes up after God had shut his eyes for three days. He was in total darkness until Ananias prayed for his eyes to be opened. This temporary blindness was necessary because it was the confidence in his flesh that had made him proud at heart. He cared not about man or taking their lives through death. So blindly religious! This physical blindness opened his spiritual eyes and he began to see now that he was sinning against God. More so, the Lord Jesus Christ prophesied over Saul that he would become "a light unto the gentiles" after this visitation if he would truly repent from all his past sins. Made blind to be a light?
Do not kick against the pricks. I say it again, do not try to be wise in your own eyes. You cannot sin and keep on sinning and say that God had told you to sin. He did not and He never will do such a thing. You have been obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in you all this while. Repent now!(More to come...)
