"Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision" (Acts 26:19)
One of the greatest lessons to be learned from the life of Paul was his obedience to the written and spoken Word. "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." It is one thing to receive a heavenly vision; it is another to obey what is seen or heard.
In this case, the apostle goes on to point out that the heavenly vision is "that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance." To be true to his trust, he must preach the full counsel of God. And today, we must be equally diligent and conscientious in proclaiming the good news of the Gospel.
Our problem, largely, is that we have not heeded the instruction, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10). Hence, our vision is limited. We cannot obey when we have not yet heard. We cannot hear without a preacher, and too many times we are content with a limited diet of spiritual food. Oh, that we might "Search the scriptures," seeking the wisdom and blessing of God upon our lives!
"Trust and obey,
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey."
The heavenly vision will come to us in several ways: (1) through His inspired Word; (2) through the spoken word; (3) through intercession. When He thus speaks to us, what a tremendous responsibility it places upon us to obey! God will not lead us from one step to another in our Christian walk until we have learned to obey the first step. His will for our lives will be revealed only as He detects willingness to obey. May He find that in you and me today.
(by David R. Enlow)