Acts 9:5

Acts 9:5 says, And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.  Saul asked Jesus Who he was, and He said He was Jesus Whom Paul persecuted, and this is who we are today when we first encounter Jesus Christ.  Jesus asked Paul was it not hard to kick against the pricks, and we have to openly reject the call to salvation, which is hard to do.  Verse six adds, And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.  Saul asked God what He would have him do.  We need to remember that Saul thought he was already doing what God wanted him to do. Then, after he encountered Christ, he knew what he was doing was not what God wanted him to do. Encountering Christ, no matter how good or bad we may be, should change our perspective.  Saul did not question God when he was told to arise and go into the city and it would be told to him what he should do.  Verse seven continues, And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.  Saul was not alone on the road, but the others were speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.  We can only wonder what they thought.  We are told they were speechless, but in the same situation, what could we say.  Verse eight states, And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. When Saul got up and opened his eyes, he was blind, but he still continued to Damascus.  He had to be led by those with him. He had been on his way to lead captive Christians to Jerusalem for trial, but instead he was led like a captive into Damacus.  I guess we could say he was a captive, since in effect, Christ had captured his life to be one of His followers.  When we encounter Christ, wherever we are, we need to become captured by His love and blind to any desire for all the sin in the world.  Verse nine adds, And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.  Saul, once he was in Damacus was blind and did not drink or eat for three days, the same number of days Christ was in the tomb.  Just as Christ gave His all for us, we must be willing to give our all for Him. After Saul had been in Damacus those three days, blind and not drinking or eating, God began working to restore him.  Why had He waited three days?  I think maybe it was to give Saul time to think and to learn to depend on someone other than himself.