Obedient

By Dwayne Hicks | October 20, 2013 |

Hands folded in prayer over open russian Holy Bible on black backgroundI was not the perfect child as some people might think. I gave my parents trouble every now and then. I was not super rebellious, but I certainly tested the boundaries. I remember being punished for my disobedience. I learned from my parents to respect authority and to live within the boundaries that are set by those in authority.  The Apostle Paul told a bit about his life prior to being arrested for preaching the Good News. Check this out…

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.” (Acts 26:15a-23 NIV)

 

I learned growing up to be obedient to those in authority. As I have grown in my faith, over the years, I have learned to be obedient to the tug of the Holy Spirit upon my heart. Paul saw Jesus in a vision and realized that he needed to change his ways. The Lord called him to preach and teach about the Way to God through Jesus. This was not popular with the religious leaders who did not accept Jesus as the Son of God.  The prophets had spent all this time telling about Jesus coming, but when He came, the Jewish leaders missed it.

Paul was never the same after his Damascus road encounter with the Lord. He lived out the rest of his life being obedient to the call of God upon Him from that vision. He was obedient in spite of some challenges and setbacks. I am inspired by his faithful obedience to the call of God on his life.

Pressing On!
Dwayne
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