“…he got up and went.”
How responsive are you to God’s leading? Do you drag your feet, put off doing what you know you should do?
Philip had been a waiter in Jerusalem. A man chosen to do that job because he had a good reputation, he was filled with the Holy Spirit of God and also filled with godly wisdom. And that was to wait tables! (Acts 6:3)
Then a great persecution began in Jerusalem after the martyrdom of Stephen. Philip fled to Samaria. There he proclaimed the Lord Jesus Christ. There, many came to faith in Jesus as their Savior.
Peter and John had come from Jerusalem to see how things were going in Samaria, after they had “spoken the word of the Lord”, they went back home. But Philip? He didn’t return with them. The Lord God had other plans for him.
(NASB) Acts 8:26-27 “But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a desert road.)
27 So he got up and went;…”
Philip was given specific instructions; a messenger from God gave Philip the message.
“Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
Notice that the instructions were only for Philip…not Peter and John or anyone else. (We are not to compare our ministry with anyone else’s!)
God’s words to you are for you to act upon, in God’s timing, not yours.
Those instructions told him the next step; they did not say what he was to do once he was on the road.
The road he was told to travel (he walked, by the way) was a desert road. A desert road is not a scenic route most people want to travel.
He was told when to go…“Get up and go…”
He responded immediately…that’s obedience.
What are some things we can know about Philip from these two verses? He had a personal interaction with the living God. He listened to God’s words to him and acted upon God’s instructions. From the Scripture, he seemed not to have asked any questions. His trust was in God to lead him.
To what is God calling you to do, this day? Does it line up with His words in the Holy Bible? If not, then that is not the Lord God speaking to you.
~ Take it to heart ~
What do you need to do from the example of Philip?
“…he got up and went.”