As I read through the book of Acts, there was one word that I repeatedly underlined — “immediately.”
When Peter commanded the lame man to get up and walk, Acts 3:7 (NKJ) states that “immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.” Sapphira lied to Peter, and so in Acts 5:10 it reads, “she fell immediately at his feet, and breathed her last.” God acted, the Holy Spirit healed, and men listened and obeyed His voice ― immediately!
In the passage from Acts 8 referenced above, Philip was told to go to a specific road and he did just that. As a result, he was able to share the good news about Jesus, and the Ethiopian believed and was baptized. What would have happened if Philip had waited? Would he have missed the opportunity to see another come to Christ? He definitely would have missed the blessing that God had in store for both him and the Ethiopian.
When our children were little, they were often prone to what we dubbed as ‘delayed obedience.’ Instead of doing something that we asked them to do, they would say they were going to do it later. We soon coined the phrase ‘delayed obedience is disobedience.’
What about you? Is your heart soft towards the moving of the Holy Spirit? Are you quick to obediently do what He whispers into your ear to do? Or do you make excuses for why you cannot do it today, or why people might think you were strange if you did that immediately?
God asks for our immediate obedience to His call. Remember, delayed obedience is disobedience.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that you are still at work today, speaking to us and showing us the way we should go. Help me to listen well and to be obedient to what you are asking me to do. Amen.
Go deeper ― Have you ever had God give you a specific instruction and tried to argue your way out of it? Is there something that He has asked of you that you need to do today?
Photo Credit: Nick Tong