Acts 9:6

My Notes

What Does Acts 9:6 Mean?

Saul is on the ground. He's been knocked off his horse by a light from heaven so bright it blinded him. He's just heard the voice of the person he's been persecuting: "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." And his response is the two most important questions any human can ask, back to back.

"Lord" — Saul addresses Jesus with the title of deity. Minutes ago he was hunting Christians. Now he's calling their leader Lord. The reversal is instantaneous. The man who wouldn't bow has been laid flat, and the first word out of his mouth is surrender.

"What wilt thou have me to do?" — this is the question that changes everything. Not "what just happened?" Not "prove yourself." Not "explain this." What do you want me to do? The question assumes authority has shifted. Saul isn't negotiating. He isn't gathering information to make his own decision. He's asking for orders. He's submitted before he knows what submission will cost.

Jesus' answer is deliberately incomplete: "Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do." He doesn't give Saul the full plan. He gives him the next step. Get up. Go to the city. Wait. The man who was in total control of his life — letters of authority, a mission, a clear agenda — is now told to walk blind into a city and wait for further instructions.

This is how Jesus works with the newly surrendered: one step at a time. Not the full picture. Not the ten-year plan. Just: get up and go. The rest will come.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What would change in your life if you genuinely asked 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' every morning — and meant it?
• 2.Why do you think Jesus gave Saul only the next step and not the full plan? What does that tell you about how God guides?
• 3.Where in your life are you waiting for the full picture before you'll move? What would it look like to take the next step without it?
• 4.How does Saul's instant surrender — from persecutor to 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' — challenge the pace of your own obedience?

Devotional

Saul's conversion happened in the space between two postures: standing over Christians with authority letters, and lying in the dirt asking Jesus for orders. There was no gradual process. No twelve-week discipleship course. Just a blinding light and a question that rewired his entire identity: what do you want me to do?

That question is available to you every morning. You don't need a Damascus Road experience. You don't need to be knocked off a horse. You just need the willingness to ask — genuinely, with open hands — Lord, what do you want me to do today? Not what do I want. Not what makes sense to me. What do You want?

Jesus' answer to Saul is instructive for anyone who wants the whole plan before they move. He doesn't give it. He gives the next step: get up, go to the city, wait. That's it. Saul had to obey without knowing where the obedience would lead. He had to trust that the voice that knocked him down was the same voice that would guide him forward.

If you've been waiting for God to show you the full plan before you move — waiting for clarity on the career, the relationship, the calling, the next five years — you might be waiting for something God doesn't give. He gives the next step. And the next step usually looks like this: get up. Go. Wait for further instructions. Can you live with that? Can you move without the map? That's where faith lives — in the gap between the question and the full answer.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture