CONVERTED FOR A PURPOSE.
By William Lamson
PAUL thought Jesus had a distinct specific purpose in his conversion, and he felt it his one duty to discover and accomplish that purpose. And we know that before his conversion, when he was a cruel persecutor, even then he was a chosen vessel to do a mighty Christian work. To Ananias the Lord said of Saul of Tarsus, “he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.” The eye of God saw in that bold, fierce enemy of Christ, one who was to be the chief apostle and leader of the Christian hosts. In his conversion, therefore, the Lord had a definite purpose. He had a work for the converted Saul to do, and Saul recognized this, and aimed to find out what that work was, and then to do it. That I may apprehend, seize upon, that specific thing for which I was apprehended, arrested, seized upon, by Christ Jesus. He was not converted for the same end for which Peter was converted, or John, or James, but for a specific purpose. The Lord had one end in view when he converted him. Now if this was true of Saul of Tarsus, is it not just as true of every Christian, of the believer of to-day? Each genuine Christian has been apprehended of Christ Jesus, and it should be the aim of his life to discover and accomplish that for which he has been converted, to apprehend that for which he has been apprehended of Christ Jesus. A successful Christian life is just one that meets the design of the Master. But how shall one know what that design is? By no voice from heaven, by no dream or vision, or mysterious impression, but by an honest study of himself and his capacities, and by prayer for divine guidance. It is not the duty of every converted one to enter the ministry, and one reason of the many failures in the work is that persons whom the Master never converted for that work, rush into it. They have mistaken their calling. In the divine plans there are no mistakes. The proper agent and the work are brought together when that divine plan is not interrupted. But if I fail to apprehend for what I was converted, or apprehending it refuse to, accomplish it, then my Christian life is a failure. Young convert, with Paul resolve to follow after that you may apprehend that for which you have been apprehended of Christ Jesus.—Rev. William Lamson, in the Watchman.