A Vision with Hands March 11, 2015

Vision

I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. Acts 26:19 ESV

If we lose the vision, we alone are responsible, and the way we lose the vision is by spiritual leakage. If we do not run our belief about God into practical issues, it is all up with the vision God has given. The only way to be obedient to the heavenly vision is to give our utmost for God’s highest, and this can only be done by continually and resolutely recalling the vision. The test is the sixty seconds of every minute, and the sixty minutes of every hour, not our times of prayer and devotional meetings.

“Though it tarry, wait for it.” We cannot attain to a vision, we must live in the inspiration of it until it accomplishes itself. We get so practical that we forget the vision. At the beginning we saw the vision but did not wait for it; we rushed off into practical work, and when the vision was fulfilled, we did not see it. Waiting for the vision that tarries is the test of our loyalty to God. It is at the peril of our soul’s welfare that we get caught up in practical work and miss the fulfilment of the vision.

Watch God’s cyclones. The only way God sows His saints is by His whirlwind. Are you going to prove an empty pod? It will depend on whether or not you are actually living in the light of what you have seen. Let God fling you out, and do not go until He does. If you select your own spot, you will prove an empty pod. If God sows you, you will bring forth fruit.

It is essential to practise the walk of the feet in the light of the vision.

Chambers, Oswald (2011-05-01). My Utmost for His Highest, Classic Edition (p. 51). Discovery House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

I sorta' get the gist of Chamber's entry for today.  Maybe.  A little bit.  Oh, who am I kidding?  The part about not attaining a vision but living "in the inspiration of it  until it accomplishes itself" is a bit too ethereal for me.

But out of the baffling fog came a very concrete reminder of the Christian life: "The test is the sixty seconds of every minute, and the sixty minutes of every hour, not our times of prayer and devotional meetings."  Yes, there is a greater vision to Christianity.  There is doctrine galore.  An eternity in the company of the Alpha and Omega.  However,  until that time we have the seconds that make up the minutes that make up the hours of our days, weeks, and years.  It is in those temporal time segments where we are to serve and love those who God has placed in our lives.

Prayer, Bible study, and meditation are not the ends to themselves.  They are but a vehicle to draw us closer to God so that we may be better equipped, more emboldened to share God's love and the Gospel story to a lost and dying world.  Never in my lifetime has that phrase "lost and dying world" been more applicable.  We have but to read the headlines to realize how hate-filled, self-worshipping, God-denying our world has become. 

Vision is what sustains us.  Hope in Christ motivates us.  But it is through our consistent, day-to-day living that we can hope to affect positive change for Christ.