I love the story of Saul’s conversion.  Here was a man who hated Christianity in it’s early days; a man who persecuted Christians and gave approval to the murder of Stephen.  Jesus chose to use this man – who became known as Paul – as his messenger of grace!  Much of the New Testament is made up of the letters he wrote to churches he helped start.  It’s awesome to see such an incredible transformation.  

In one of Paul’s letters to his young friend Timothy, Paul wrote:  ¹⁵ This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. ¹⁶ But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life (1 Tim 1:1-16 NLT).

I relate to that because I was such a rebellious young man and believe I was one of the worst of sinners.  Even so, God in His mercy reached out to me through some other Christians and I made a decision to trust & follow Christ.   Some people thought I’d never amount to anything and others were shocked by the change they saw in me, but God’s grace changed me and prepared me for the privilege of serving Him.   Every Christian is called to serve God no matter their vocation, but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought He would also want me to spend my life serving Him in full-time ministry.

The bottom line is that God isn’t looking for perfect people – just people who are willing to be transformed by His grace – and who will make themselves available to Him.    No one is beyond the reach of His grace and no matter how IMPERFECT your life may have been, remember God uses IMPERFECT people to impact the lives of others & build His Kingdom.