The Old Testament is Still Relevant

There is a lot of controversy over whether the Old Testament is still relevant or not. Many will say that we are in the modern times, and we need to move on from that, but how can we move on when it is still God's word? No matter how many years pass, the Old Testament is still going to be a part of what God wanted us to live by and learn from. 

The Old Testament is literally the beginning! If you were reading a book, would you begin in the middle of it? Probably not. You would want to know the back story and how everyone gets to the point that they are at. The Old Testament introduces us to who God is, and tells us the reason why we need saved, being the sin that began with Adam and Eve. If we were to begin with the New Testament, when Jesus is born, there would be no way to understand why He died on the cross. We would not be able to comprehend why we would need Jesus' salvation because the laws of God and the explaination of sin would be left in the Old Testament. 

Without seeing all the promises that God kept in the Old Testament, it would also be much harder to trust God, only reading the New Testament. In the Old Testament, God set aside a lot of promises and He showed His mercy to many, leading us to see how faithful He is to those that are willing to follow Him. Like in the story of Noah, God promised that He would bring Noah and his family out of the flood because they followed Him, and God did exactly that. These are the stories that God set aside for us, so that we could believe in Him to bring us out of trouble too. 

The Old Testament gives us role models to live by, and prophesies to look forward to that are fulfilled by the New Testament teachings. Every part of the Bible should be honored and cherished, for it is from God, and He wants it to be used for His glory. 

A New Name

After the resurrection of Jesus, Saul, a Pharisee in Jerusalem, vowed to rid the city of all of the Christian Church. The high priest gave him orders to arrest all the Christians that he found. One day on the Damascus Road, a bright, blinding light came from the heavens. A voice came about him as Saul felt to the ground saying, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Saul replied, "Who art thou, Lord?" and the Lord spoke saying, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." Saul was terrified and asked of the Lord what he would have him to do. The Lord told Saul to go into the city, and his will would be shown unto him. Saul had been blinded by the light, so the men that were with him led him into the city of Damascus. He was blind for three days and he did not eat or drink.

A disciple in Damascus named Ananias was called upon by the Lord in a vision and he said, "Behold, here I am, Lord." The Lord told him to go into the street, which is called Straight, and to go to the house of Judas in search of a man, Saul. Ananias was concerned because he had heard of the great evil that Saul had committed, but the Lord told him to go because Saul had been chosen of Him. Ananias went and put his hands on Saul and prayed unto the Lord that He would give Saul back his sight and that he would be filled with the Holy Ghost, and it was so. After Saul received his sight back, he was baptized and fed.

The city was very shocked to hear of the baptizing of Saul because he had destroyed so many in Jerusalem. Saul tried to tell the Jews that it was Christ' work, but after some days, the Jews decided to kill Saul. The disciples took him one night, and entered into Jerusalem. Barnabas took Saul and saw that he had indeed heard from the Lord.

After some time of doing the Lord's work along with Barnabas, Saul's name was changed to Paul because of the change he had made.

The story of Paul shows us that the Lord can change anyone's life. When he was Saul, he was an awful man that persecuted those that followed the Lord. He hated everything of God, and he wanted to get rid of all those that praised Him. Though, God was merciful and He allowed Saul a way to come to Him. He used a great disciple of God, Ananias, to do His work. Even though Saul had worked against God, God saw a bigger plan for him. God allowed him to receive the greatest gift, which is receiving God into his heart, and He allowed him to do His work. God took Saul out of his wicked ways and placed him into a great position of God. Due to these great changes, God blessed him with a new name, Paul.

The Lord can take the most wicked man out of darkness and bring him into light. Nothing is too big for God. God can use men of God, a blinding light, or anything else to show people that they need the Lord. From a different perspective, those that are followers of God needs to keep their hearts open to God because they might be the one that God calls on to help bring someone out of darkness. It's never too late to receive a new name. If the Lord is calling for you, answer His call, and he will make you anew. If the Lord is calling unto you to help someone else, answer His call, and he will bless you for it. God has His own ways of leading people to the Lord, and we must all keep our hearts open, so that can be the blessed one that is called upon to do His work.