Don’t Be Afraid of Being Small
Ephesians 1:1 Greetings from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted.
We’ve all felt small and insignificant from time to time – perhaps that’s how you feel now. Small … insignificant. And somehow, in this success-driven world in which we live, we think that’s a bad thing.
There’s something inside each one of us that yearns for recognition – for people to be dazzled by our success. The Apostle Paul was one of those. Before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, his name was actually Saul after Israel’s first king, a man who was tall and vain. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, a member of Israel’s ruling body, the Sanhedrin, and schooled in the best schools.
As he writes of himself, a Pharisee amongst Pharisees, a persecutor of the church, righteous under the law. If anyone had the right to be called successful, it was him. But when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, the Lord gave him a new name. He was no longer to be called Saul but Paul, a name that he uses ever thereafter.
Ephesians 1:1 Greetings from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted.
‘So what’s in a name?’ you might ask … Well, everything in the Hebrew culture. Your name defined you. And do you know what the name “Paul” means? It means, quite literally, “small”.
So in order for this arrogant, abusive, albeit successful, man to become useful in the hands of God, to become an apostle sent out by God to do His work, to write almost half of the books of the New Testament in fact, Saul had to become Paul.
He had to be made small. He had to be humbled.
When you’re in Christ, never, never be afraid of being small. It is, in fact, a good thing.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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