Daily Lesson for January 26, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Galatians chapter 1 verses 15 through 16:

15But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased 16to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.16Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him for fifteen days.

The desert or wilderness has often played an important role in shaping the lives of the saints and mystics. It is in the wilderness -- literal or metaphorical -- where things are learned and unlearned and where deep conversion takes place. It is where deep repentance and transformation take place.

Paul was zealously opposed to the church in the beginning. He held the coats for those who stoned St. Stephen. He hated the church and the Gospel and in doing so thought he was doing the will of God.

That kind of opposition takes time to change. He had to learn and also unlearn. His prejudice had to be broken and his mind transformed. Basically, Paul had to be worked over. And it took three years for it to happen. The well-trained, scholarly, and respected zealot Paul had to go and leave all his prejudice and privilege behind and become a student again that he might be made fit for the kingdom of God. I'm sure it was humbling; and I'm sure it was also very, very, joyous and life-giving.

I have a buddy who has been in recovery a long while now who the other day was telling me about the first days of sobriety in a 28-day program. He was talking about how humbling it is to walk into a place with nothing but the clothes on your back and a second set wrapped up with some towels and toiletries stuffed in a trash bag.

That was the wilderness for him. It was rock bottom. It was also the way to salvation.

Would that more would find it . . .

Ryon Price is the Senior Pastor at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.