"Apprehended"

"Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee." (Psalms 118:28)

 While having sushi with a friend of mine yesterday, he reminded me of how it was that God saved me, by sharing how God saved him. As he put it, he had no desire to be saved, especially at the time he was saved; his life was free and fun, or so he believed. The plans that he had for his life were filled with all the excitement the world has to offer, but God apprehended him, putting a stop to his plans and giving him a new ambition, to be a pastor. I remember not wanting anything to do with church; sitting outside the church, way out in the field used for sports, and feeling sorry for those men that were in that building and taken into some kind of religion. I remember crying in the dark, thinking that my tears were for them, and not realizing it was my soul that was lost, not their's. I had no intention of going to that church, and went out of my way to not go near it. Then I was sent to another place that did not have a church; one that was closer to downtown and did not have everything that the ranch had. I ended up getting a couple really good jobs; in the early morning I was a waiter in the Officer's dining room, and midday I was taken to another location to wash and detail Officer's cars. Both of those jobs provided me with money and tips; as in those days, we were allowed to have money in jail. And then it happen! One nontypical morning, as I laid there thinking of what I might do till my wife was coming to visit later that Sunday afternoon, there came the call: the Chaplin was speaking over the intercom announcing the morning service to be held in the cafeteria. He did this every Sunday morning, but previous to this, none of those announcements mattered; not like this one, this one was specific to me. That was my God apprehending me and grabbing hold of my heart! That is what I see in the verse above, because each and everyone of us would be lost in our sins, if God had not apprehended us by His love...

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12) KJV