Saturday, July 5, 2025  

Today's Scripture
Acts 9:10–19a

Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. (NRSV)

Reflection

Saul was a zealous enforcer for the Pharisees, authorized to crush what they viewed as a dangerous threat to Jewish tradition — the early Christian movement. On his journey to Damascus, Saul was suddenly overwhelmed by a blinding light and confronted by the risen Jesus: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” The encounter left him physically blind and spiritually shaken. But God was not finished with him. God sent a disciple named Ananias to restore Saul’s sight. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Saul was baptized and transformed. The one who once ravaged the Church became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.

A similar, though quieter, conversion occurred in the 1930s at Oxford University. There, professors J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis engaged in deep, honest conversations about faith. Lewis, a committed atheist, dismissed Christianity as mere myth. Tolkien, however, proposed that God speaks through stories — and that in Christ, myth became fact. He didn’t debate to win, but answered Lewis’s objections with reason, imagination, and patience. In time, Lewis began to see Christianity not as wishful thinking, but as intellectually sound and spiritually compelling.

Like Saul, Lewis was not simply skeptical — he was actively opposed to faith. And like Saul, he came to realize that he had not so much found God as God had found him. Both stories remind us that grace is never deterred by resistance. God’s pursuit is patient, personal, and powerful.

Transformation rarely happens in isolation. Saul needed Ananias. Lewis needed Tolkien. God often works through faithful people willing to speak truth in love.

If you feel far from God today — or know someone who does — take heart. The same grace that turned a persecutor into a preacher and an atheist into a defender of the faith is still at work. No one is beyond the reach of God’s redeeming love.

Prayer

Lord of transforming grace, help me trust in your power to change hearts — mine included. Make me, like Ananias, a vessel of truth and love for those who need you most. Amen.

Written by Sarah Younger, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

Devotion index by date | I’d like to receive daily devotions by email