Monday, August 26: “Long Time Coming …

Acts 9: 26: “When [Saul came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.”

Can you blame the disciples for having their suspicions about Saul? Perhaps, for the first “several days” (v. 20). But after that he went deeper into Arabia for “many days” (v. 23), which turned out to be three years (Galatians 1: 17, 18) before his first post-conversion trip to Jerusalem. Yet, even after all that time, Peter and James needed the help of Barnabas to convince them of Saul’s sincerity. Sometimes we need to be quicker to believe the truth of God’s mercy upon our enemies!