THE GREAT SECRETS OF APOSTLE PAUL (PART 3)
TEXTS:
"…but this one thing I do, …"
(Philippians 3 verse 13, King James Version).
"And herein do I exercise myself, … " (Acts 24 verse 16, King James Version).
Today, l would like to discuss yet another great secret of this humble servant of God, so that we, having a desire to please God with our lives, may have a clue there about. "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15 verse 4).
HE HAD A PASSION TO KNOW GOD!
Apostle Paul's passion to know God was expressed as follows:
"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;" (Philippians 3 verse 10).
This was a man that was acclaimed for writing 13 or 14 of the 27 Books of the New Testament. His word was and still remains sacred scripture! (see 2nd Peter 3 verses 15 to 16). How did he come about that? What were the secrets of this great servant of God?
One thing that marked him out was that he was an ardent seeker of God. His passion was to know God! His delight was in God's Word (see Psalms 1 verse 2). Though he didn't meet with Jesus in flesh, notwithstanding, he gave himself to reading, studying and meditating on the Scriptures in order to know Him. If this weren't so, Apostle Paul wouldn't have instructed Timothy to "give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine ..." and to "meditate upon" the same (1st Timothy 4 verses 13 and 15). In 2nd Timothy 2 verse 15, he exhorted Timothy further as follows:
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
In his search for God, Apostle Paul couldn't do without his books and parchments which he asked to be brought to him from Troas (2nd Timothy 4 verse 13). To him, every believer ought to have a workable knowledge of God's Word, and this comes only by being in good and constant fellowship with the Word; like Joshua was admonished by the Lord in Joshua 1 verse 8. Any reason the Apostle Paul was a success?
It's said that whatever you give yourself to, you become. Apostle Paul was a man of great learning! At his trial before King Agrippa, the Scriptures record the observation of Porcius Festus:
"And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness." (see Acts 26 verses 24 to 25. This same zeal was first in his Master Jesus (see Psalms 69 verse 9; John 4 verse 34). Also at a time, Jesus' acquaintances thought of him to be beside Himself and had to force Him to eat food (see Mark 3 verses 20 to 21. It's therefore not surprising that Porcius Festus took Apostle Paul's zeal for madness.
Our God, being a Rewarder to them that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11 verse 6), appreciated and approved of his zeal and rewarded him with much understanding and knowledge of the mysteries of God, even the hidden mystery "Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men ..." (Ephesians 3 verses 3 to 5). What a blessed vessel Apostle Paul was!
May we learn from this humble servant of God. He made up his mind to seek God and he went for Him.
It's verily not in our interest as Christians to be ignorant of who the Lord is, what He has done for us and who we are in Him! God's people are destroyed because they lack knowledge and as a result, they suffer rejection by the Lord (Hosea 4 verse 6).
Let him that read this devotional piece waste no more time about making a decision with the determination to begin seeking to know the Lord, and that daily. In other words, give some quality time daily to reading, memorizing, meditating, and studying and doing the Scriptures. Like Apostle Paul, God who is no respecter of persons will reward your efforts, in Jesus name.
Have a great day!
PRAYER:
Dearest Heavenly Father, I decide from today to seek after you from your Word. As I do so, may your Spirit reveal the Lord to me, in Jesus mighty name.