Then Paul said: 3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. Acts 22:3-5

In just a few words, Paul laid it out for his newest “congregation.” He was one of them. He was actually more than one of them; he went further and persecuted them. He’s actually setting them up because what they will hear next will either infuriate them or draw them into what he is saying.

We all have back stories. We call them testimonies. But Paul when Paul wrote this, he was still fairly fresh from his conversion so his conversion experience was as real as it ever would be.

Most reading this devotional have been Christians for many years. That initial light you saw way back when has dimmed. It doesn’t mean your faith has dimmed, but what you remember about that experience (if anything memorable occurred) has faded.

Instead, what’s more important today for us is what is Christ doing in our life today, right now? What did He do last week? What do we hope He’ll do tomorrow?