Rand's Hero

and the winner is...

In my last post, I asked you all to comment on who you would like to meet in Heaven, after meeting with the Lord of course. Most of you expressed your desires to be reunited with a family member who have gone to be with the Lord, which is a wonderful hope to have! Maybe the fact I haven't lost anyone very close to me so far explains why my answer isn't a personal friend or family member.

My choice? No brainer... the Apostle Paul (aka Saul of Tarsus).

I have heard of people explaining how they felt a certain kinship to an author just by reading his/her works. I had never experienced that until I read the book of Acts, followed by Paul's Epistles. It's like Paul and I just, well, clicked!

Why? Many reasons. Chiefly, the man was nuts, crazy, completely out of his mind! I mean that in a good way...hee hee. Paul was scourged, beaten, STONED (yes...he had rocks thrown at him until he collapsed), imprisoned, shipwrecked and lost at sea, and all this for one reason only: THE FAITH. A man with that much courage and tenacity is worthy of my respect and admiration.

It doesn't end there though. It is Paul's journey from an ignorant, hard-hearted religious man to a godly, much used man of God that I find wonderful. He started a strong, tough character who was afraid of no one; a man with authority and might. And you see him, in his twilight years, asking Timothy not to forget to come to him soon because so many had forsaken him, and some had done him much harm; he also reminds Timothy to pick up his cloak in Troas, probably due to an elderly Paul, having trouble keeping warm in the winter (2 Timothy 4). The condescension in social status, and his spiritual ascension makes Paul a true hero of mine.

It will be very sweet to meet him some day...