Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

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March 26, 2010
            Greetings, dear people.
            It’s really quite nice here.  It’s fairly clear with sunshine.  But it’s on the chilly side…just under 30 degrees.  We’ve already done a large amount of dialogue…getting the world all straightened out.  It seems to be getting more difficult and convoluted all the time.  What would we do without a transcending faith in a transcendent God?!
            At present the time is 11:10am.  Oregon time is 8:10am.  Can you imagine a dimension of reality where time is absent?  If we can truly embrace Biblical revelation, that’s where we’re headed.
            May you be blessed today.
                        Dad/Ray

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26 March 2010
Passage: Acts 26:2-18
Focus: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”  Acts 26:14.

            Paul recounts his personal experience before Festus and Agrippa of having Jesus dramatically reveal Himself to him on the road to Damascus.  It happened about 30 years previous, but it was still fresh in Paul’s memory.  Let’s consider here the statement that Jesus makes to Paul in that encounter when He says, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”  The KJV uses the word “pricks” rather than “goads.”  They are the same.
            It is interesting to learn that Jesus is actually using a Greek proverb.  But what does He mean?
            First of all, it is helpful to understand what a goad is.  It is a sharp pointed spear-like instrument used by men to guide and control work animals like oxen.  There were many types.  A goad may be a rod of about 8 feet long, sharpened on the end.   Or they may be sharpened projections mounted into the frame or harness of a plow to keep the animal from kicking or misbehaving.  The ox is supposed to learn that for him to resist submitting to his master, he only hurts himself.
            That’s enough to give us insight into the proverb’s meaning.  It means that it is absolutely foolish for a man to resist the Will and Laws of Almighty god in favor of his own ideas, plans, and desires.  To do so is to invite the painful consequences of rebellion against God’s Will—His intolerance of sin.  So, like an ox that bloodies and injures himself when he “kicks against the goads,” a man actually hurts himself when he resists God.
            Have you ever been one to “kick against the goads?”  Sure you have.  We all have.  And we can all testify that disobedience to God never produces the fruit of blessing—of righteousness, peace and joy.  It always produces guilt, fear, pain, and damage.  Let’s understand that it is in our best interests to love and serve God according to the standard of His Word.  It is an expression of His love to give us those standards.  To go our own way and “kick against the goads” will never never never never never never never (How many times do we have to say it?) never produce desirable results.
            Paul learned this wise principle of life quickly.  Some people never do.