March 3 - Galatians 1:11-12

March 3 – Galatians 1:11-12

Paul Called by God
I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

This passage fascinates me … and it’s only in the last couple of sentences.  You see, in the book of Acts, we read about Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, his time that was spent there with some disciples and then there is the story about how he had to live Damascus by being lowered via basket through an opening in the city wall. (Acts 9:20-25)

The very next paragraph in Acts tells of his arrival in Jerusalem, trying to join the disciples who were afraid of him and refused to believe that he had become a disciple of Christ and then of Barnabas who finally dealt with the situation.

Not a single word of Paul heading into Arabia. 

It wasn’t until I read an aside in one of my Church History textbooks that I dug into the scriptures to discover this little tidbit of information.  I was quietly reading along one evening and came upon this news and recognized immediately that I was unfamiliar with this trip of Paul’s.  I went first to the chapter in Acts (Acts 9) and couldn’t find it anywhere.  A little bit of digging and research and voila, there it was in his letter to the Galatians.

Paul’s intention is to remind the Galatians that he didn’t spend time learning about Jesus Christ from others … he got it directly from Jesus and he was set apart by God.  His ministry is not something that was anointed by a human being, he was called by God’s grace to preach among the Gentiles.

Do you know that you have been called by God?  We all have.  It may be that you are called to be a beacon of light in your workplace, maybe you are called to travel to China or even to San Diego to share the Gospel of Christ.  But, as a child of God, you are to be salt and light in the world.  He has set you apart.