"You want ME to do WHAT???"

He might have said, "You want me to do what???" But he didn't. He felt he was just an ordinary man, but one working hard to dedicate himself to Jesus. No, he didn't live it perfectly. He made ordinary mistakes that any follower might make. He used ordinary language, not like an orator. He lived in an ordinary Jewish home, not like those upper-crust Pharisees in Jerusalem. His home was plain and adequate, not large with plenty of servants. He was just an ordinary man.

But this particular ordinary man had been asked by the Lord to do what most would think as crazy, if not insane. His God-directed mission was to go to the world's most potent persecutor, the Disciple-Killer. He was to talk to this legally-empowered, follower-destroyer about his inability to see and his need to immersed to have his sins forgiven. And the persecutor knew more Bible than he did. An extra ordinary missions given to an ordinary man.

I can just see this ordinary follower approaching the dwelling of the persecutor. I see him hesitate just a moment, before his knocked on the door. I am sure he swallowed twice and took a deep breath. Then he did what God had told him.

Without hesitation, intensely, anxiously, almost hurriedly, the persecutor listens to the words. The persecutor jumps up and tells everyone to "Hurry up! We are going to the river right now!" He follows every instruction of the ordinary man.

The ordinary man can hardly believe what is happening. He is in the river. He baptizing the repentant persecutor. He hears himself say, "I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost for the remission of your sins." All he was doing was what God said,  "Go,...". A simple man following simple orders.

I am sure he didn't know all the 'softening up' God had done with this tormentor. He didn't know the awkwardness the persecutor felt. He did not know the pleading prayers the oppressor whispered. The persecutor's fasting may not have been obvious to this simple, ordinary man. The ordinary man had heard a simple message from his Lord, and did it. Now, this little plain man felt like a dragon slayer.

It is then I remember a passage from the Book of Acts about how Jewish priests became followers.

I know an ordinary man in Missouri I'll call 'Steve'. He is about as ordinary as they come. He looks after the animals that provide his income. He lives in his wife's grandparents home. He drives small cars and big trucks. He wears blue-jeans and a cowboy hat often. He is just an ordinary man.

But this ordinary man visits with his friends about Jesus. It doesn't matter to him if they are leaders in the Baptist, Methodist, or Pentecostal churches. He doesn't know if God has been 'softening them up' or not. He talks with them about their souls. He doesn't see himself as a dragon-slayer. I'm certain he seems himself as an ordinary follower who heard his master say, "Go....".

Do you feel religious leaders are too staunch and unchangeable for you, an ordinary follower, to attempt to study with them? Do you feel they know more Bible than you do? Are they unreachable? Or are you afraid? Do you pretend to not hear the Almighty One saying, "Go,..."???
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