The time had come. They had helped him move all his stuff into his room in the freshman dorm. They had gone to the campus bookstore and purchased the books he would need for his first semester classes. They had walked around campus a little bit. They had taken him out for supper. There was nothing more to do. The time had come to say goodbye. Dad, who was not usually a “hugger,” leaned in and gave his son a tight hug. As they separated, Dad locked eyes with his son and, with a father’s earnestness, said, “Remember who you are.”

Today we commemorate “The Conversion of St. Paul.”  This gives us the opportunity to linger over this thing called “conversion.”  Just what is “conversion”?  “Conversion” is what happens when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ.  The word literally means a “turning around.”  A person who has been turned from unbelief to faith in Christ has been “turned around.”  They have been converted.

Have you ever noticed how often we find the Son of God in the most unlikely of places? It just happened. We celebrated Christmas and we found the Son of God in a trough, in a feed-box for animals! Not exactly where one would expect to find the Son of God. It happens time and again in his ministry. We find him in the company of society’s “outcasts.” Those known only as “sinners.” We will find the Son of God on a smelly donkey on Palm Sunday. We will find him as a defendant in court. We will find him on a cross. And we will find him temporarily in a tomb. Not exactly places we would expect to find the Son of God.

You’ve got to have the right person with you. That makes all the difference. It is a lesson learned early on in life. Ask the child, “Who do you want to go with you?” Work your way through the list. “You want me to take you?” A little head shakes, “No.” “Do you want Uncle Squirt? He’s fun!” Still shaking “no.” “You want Aunt Deb?” No. “Do you want mommy to go with you?” Now we’re getting somewhere! Now you have mentioned the one who is always there! Now you have mentioned the one who can always be trusted! Now the head goes up and down! “Yes! I will go IF mom goes!”

The Lord many times comes to rescue his people. The entire Old Testament tells story after story of the Lord’s gracious and powerful intervention on behalf of his own. Perhaps the greatest and best-known story in the Old Testament of rescue is the story of how the Lord brought the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt.