Daily Devotions
I love the story of Ananias. As far as we know, he’s just an ordinary follower of Jesus. No doubt he was frightened to hear that Saul was coming to persecute the Christians in his city. But when Jesus sends him to heal Saul’s eyesight, he obeys Him. And he doesn’t just do the bare minimum. When he comes up to his former enemy, the first word out of his mouth is “Brother.”
“Brother Saul,” he calls him, because Saul now believes in Jesus, though he is famous for harming every Christian he can get his hands on. Ananias lays his own hands on Saul, not to hurt him but to heal him, and welcomes him into the family of God as a brother.
How can he do this? Only because the love of Jesus is living in his heart, making it possible for him to care for his enemy. Because that’s exactly what Jesus did for us, isn’t it? He lay down His life on the cross to save us and bring us out of darkness, even though we were against Him, enemies of God and hurting our neighbors. Through His death and resurrection He made us children of God, and His Holy Spirit lives in us. Now we can love as He loves us—even when He sends us to care for our enemies.
WE PRAY: Lord Jesus, make Your love to shine through me, too. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
1. Do you have enemies?
2. If so, how do you deal with Jesus’ command to love them?
3. Saul became the apostle Paul, the famous missionary and servant of Jesus. How do you think he would describe Ananias? Why?