Before tractors were invented farmers used animals like oxen to pull plows and other implements. If a tired (or stubborn) ox refused to move, the farmer goaded him, jabbing him from behind with a sharp stick. Such unpleasant stimulation might prompt the animal to kick. However, if he successfully kicked the goad, it would only poke him harder, increasing the pain. The ox’s best option was to move along pulling the plow.
On the Damascus road Jesus told Saul, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Accts 26:14). Saul had heard the gospel repeatedly as the Christians he was persecuting gave their defense. God was poking Saul with the Gospel Goad! Saul had been kicking against it, not realizing he was hurting only himself. The harder he kicked, the worse he hurt. The worse he hurt, the harder he kicked. At long last Saul encountered Jesus, realized how wrong he had been, and became as dedicated to proclaiming the good news of Jesus as he had previously been to stamping it out.
God’s word often tells us things we may not want to hear. Whether it deals with moral standards, the way of salvation, Scriptural worship, or anything else, we can submit to God by faith and be blessed, or we can rebel (kick against the goads) to our own hurt and eventual destruction. Wisdom will lead us to submit; but sometimes we’re stubborn – I say this kindly – dumber than an ox!
God doesn’t goad us with the gospel because He enjoys seeing us in pain. He is guiding us along the way that He knows is best. Only when we refuse to move, or when we try to go some other direction, does He have to poke us.
May each of us, like Saul of Tarsus, see our mistakes, repent of them, and zealously seek to obey the Lord’s word!
–Joe Slater
