IMMEDIATE OBEDIENCE

Gal 1:15-17 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.

Like Jeremiah, John the baptizer, and other biblical characters, Paul was chosen by God, through Christ Jesus, to labor in the vineyard of the Lord. We know this to be true because preaching the gospel message of Jesus to the world was not the original vocation he pursued. He did not seek the education that would lead to proclaiming Jesus Christ as the Messiah. His calling was not his choosing but rather by the grace of God through His Son Jesus Christ. The vocation Paul sought was just the opposite. He pursued, and was licensed by the Jewish hierarchy, to persecute and destroy the church of Christ, which he considered an enemy of Judaism.

Immediately before his calling, Paul, then called Saul, was breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord (Acts 9:1b). He desired the approval of the Jewish Sanhedrin to continue his persecution against the church of Christ at Damascus. It was on the road to Damascus that he received his calling to serve God in a manner that was not his choosing. He was called by God, through His Son, Jesus Christ for a special mission. Jesus said of Paul, he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel (Acts 9:15b). Blinded by the light of the presence of the Lord, Paul was shown by Christ, through a servant Ananias, what he must do to obey His calling. He immediately obeyed the will of Christ, was filled with the Holy Ghost, received his sight, arose, and was baptized (See Acts 9:3-18).

Convinced that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God and Savior of thee world, the conversion of Paul was immediate. There was no hesitation on the part of Paul, to think it over. He conferred not with flesh and blood - he didn't consult others and ask for their advice. He didn't deliberate on the matter of whether or not he should become a follower of the Savior. Once he knew the will of God, Paul yielded his will to that of God. Being filled with the Holy Spirit of God, straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God (Acts. 9:20). Spiritually, Paul "saw the light," once God's truths were revealed to him through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Without any hesitation on his part, he immediately believed, accepted, and obeyed it.

God's truths are available to us today. He made them available thorough His Son, Jesus Christ, and through the Bible - His word was written by the Holy Spirit-inspired apostles and disciples of Christ. Through Jesus Christ, and by His word, God is calling you and I today, to obey His will and enjoy the hope of eternal salvation. The writer of the Hebrew epistle referred to Christians as holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1b). The apostle Paul also wrote that God calls all, that desire to obey His will, with an holy calling (2 Tim. 1:9),and a high calling ... in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14). God calls Christians in order that they may lay hold on eternal life (1 Tim. 6:12). The Christians at Thessalonica were called unto holiness (1 Thess. 4:7). They were also called by Paul, and his fellow laborers, by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 2:14).

Reading His holy word, we are assured that God has called all people of the world, to accept, and believe, that Jesus Christ is their Savior, to be baptized for the remission of all past sins, and they will be added, by God, to the church of Christ. This is exactly what three thousand souls did on the Day of Pentecost immediately after hearing the first inspired sermon of redemption in the Christian era (See Acts 2).

How should you and I respond to God's call? Not only should we immediately become a child of God, but we should also to remain faithful Christian sby using our talents and abilities to their fullest extent to demonstrate our love for God, for our fellow Christians, and for all that are considered to be our neighbors. When we search for and recognize the needs of others, whether physical or spiritual, do we fill that need immediately? Do we hear Paul's plea to the church at Ephesus, apply it to ourselves; do we immediately and continually walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace?

When God calls us to do His will through Jesus Christ, we need to see the urgency and render immediate obedience!