The scripture for today, September 19, is Acts 9:19f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food he regained his strength.”
This is the story of Saul, as he was known to the Jews and to us as Paul, who became an apostle. Notice the order he did this: He was hungry, but that wasn’t important. He had to do what was important first. He was baptized.
Why was Paul baptized? In Acts 22:16 Paul recalls that day when he was told, “Get up: be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”
Further, notice who baptized him. Was he part of the clergy, someone with an ordained title in the church? Acts 9:10 says, “In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him…Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul.” What title did Ananias have? None. He was just another disciple, disciple simply meaning follower.
Little did this otherwise unknown disciple realize that day, that the person he baptized would end up writing much of the New Testament.
Do you feel like you are an “unknown disciple” to followers of Jesus around you? Find something to do, and God will make it great. And remember, do the important thing first.