September 8

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

Heavenly visions are given us to show the possibilities of our lives. They are not meant to discourage us by their brightness and their beauty. They are revealing’s of what we may become, and we should be instantly obedient to them.

Paul is an example of a man who puts his beliefs at once into practice. Truth never was to him for mere ornament – it was something to be lived. When he saw his duty, he did it.

If we would think of all Christ’s teachings, all glimpses of heavenly things, in this way, we would not live as so many do live – on life’s low levels. Agrippa seems to have sneered at Paul’s personal appeals as if the preacher would have made him a Christian like himself.

But why not? Paul wanted every man to be a Christian. He was not ashamed to be Christian himself, and he saw no reason why anybody, even Agrippa the king, should be ashamed to be what he himself was – “except these bonds.”