3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.
As I read this passage I thought about the system of schools in Muslim countries that train from infancy young boys in the ways of Islam, including the necessity of killing non-Muslims. I also thought about our public school system that teaches some pretty non-Christian ideas and principles. Schooling can be a very powerful tool in the enemy’s hands. It can also be a powerful tool in the hands of believers. Paul was in such a school under one of the great teachers of his day. It was the Harvard of elementary schools. He would have memorized the Old Testament during those years. He would have learned all the ins and outs of how those passages had been interpreted by Jewish Rabbis down through the years. But then God showed up on the Road to Damascus. All he had learned came into focus. It was as though Paul needed a new set of glasses in order to see clearly. Have you ever seen one of those pictures where you look at it and suddenly it becomes a 3-D image of something else? That is like what happened to Paul. He had always seen the Scriptures from a certain perspective. All of a sudden, in an instant, Paul saw the depth of the love of God in Jesus. Everything seemed to make sense as never before. Where there had be questions, they seemed to fade into the background, and clarity was the rule of the day. Gamaliel had been a good teacher, but he could only teach what he had been taught. Paul received new instruction for the ultimate Teacher. Often we need a new teacher in order to get a new perspective. When we learn to tune into the Holy Spirit the Scriptures take on a new dimension. What was cloudy becomes clearer. The abstract becomes very personal. We need encounters with God. Seek Him today.
The Arnold Journey 