Interesting....Really forgetting those things behind and pressing on

And Saul was consenting ... 

Acts 8:1 

This Saul, of course, would later become known as the Apostle Paul. The word, ‘consenting’ actually means, ‘voting’, implying that Saul was a voting member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court. 

This interests me because marriage was one of the requirements for a position on the Sanhedrin — and yet Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that it was good for the unmarried and the widows to remain in a single state — even as he was (I Corinthians 7:8). If Paul was married in Acts and single in I Corinthians — what happened to his wife? Some suggest she died — that he was a widower who chose to remain single in order to give himself more fully to ministry. 

Much more probable, however, based upon the writings of early Church history, is that Paul’s wife left him. When he was converted, she walked out and never came back. 

Either way, it’s interesting that Paul doesn’t tell the story. Truly, he practiced what he preached when he wrote: ‘Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,’ (Philippians 3:13-14). 

If you’ve been hurt in the past, perhaps Paul can be an example to you today. I know it’s not easy, but Paul shows us the possibility of forgetting the past, pressing on, and seeing how the Lord can do something unique and special in your situation presently.

This Daily Devotional is an excerpt from the book "A Days Journey" by Pastor Jon. "A Days Journey" is a collection of 365 short devotions from the New Testatment.