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Committed To The Vision
by Ray Prinzing
"I was not
disobedient unto the
heavenly
vision."
(Acts 26:19)
Jesus gave a very clear
warning that "because
iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall
wax cold. But he that
shall endure unto the
end, the same shall be
saved," (Matthew
24:12-13). There is a
committal that is
required of God's elect,
a surrender to Him that
is irreversible, that we
shall endure to the end
of our race, diligently
pressing toward the
mark, for the prize of
our high calling.
We hardly need to be
reminded that "where
there is no vision, the
people perish: but he
that keepeth the law,
happy is he."
(Proverbs 29:18). The
Hebrew word for "perish"
literally means "are
naked." Our vision is
our covering, until we
are swallowed up into
the reality of its
fulfillment. Hence the
need for a God-given
revelation of His
purpose and plan for
each of us.
When Paul was arrested
on the road to Damascus,
he received a vision of
the glory of God which
was tremendous. So
bright was the light
that shone into his
heart that it completely
changed his whole
understanding and
outlook, and he freely
gave himself to obey the
Lord is this new
dimension. He was a
convert of glory of
God. His vision was
real. almost thirty
years later, when making
his defense before King
Agrippa, he was able to
state with joy, "I
was not disobedient unto
the heavenly vision."
"Not disobedient..."
The Greek "apethes."
Peitho - means, to have
confidence, to be
persuaded, trust,
believe, obey. The
letter in front of the
word reverses it from
positive to the
negative. Hence, Paul
was making it clear that
he was not unpersuaded,
wishy-washy, about this
vision. Or, to give it
in a positive statement,
the reason he obeyed was
because he had
confidence in the
vision, he was persuaded
of the vision, he
trusted in the vision,
believed in the vision.
Thus, we find that our
obedience is vitally
linked to whether or not
we are PERSUADED of the
vision which we have
received. So solid, so
real, so glorious was
the true vision, Paul
was full and irrevocably
committed to it. May
this also be our
testimony in this day.
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