“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” Acts 26:19
These words are Paul’s own testimony about his calling and constitute a summary of what governed his life. It was vision! He was governed by a heavenly vision that controlled and directed him. The Lord appeared to him, spoke to him, and gave him a revelation of his mission — to open people’s eyes to see the light of God’s plan and to usher them into God’s heart’s desire.
When we have vision, we have something to govern and direct our lives day by day. Vision gives us something to which we can render our obedience. If we do not have a heavenly vision, what do we obey? What is the vision that directs our life? What do we see? What controls us? Is there vision in our life? Or are we just spending our days passively waiting to go to heaven? We need to see what God’s purpose is right now in time.
When vision governs us, our lives are properly controlled and directed. When there is no vision, then our lives are spent in vanity. We sit at home and watch television, read the newspaper, go to work, acquire an abundance of material possessions, and exist with a sense of futility and emptiness about life. We go through the cycle of life without any governing vision. There is nothing that shapes and directs our lives. So we must see how crucial vision is to us.
The vision that Paul speaks of as the heavenly vision was the factor that governed his plans and practical life. Immediately after receiving this vision, he “declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles . . .” (v. 20). In other words, first comes vision; then comes a controlled and directed life in practical service. It was vision that gave Paul direction and caused him to spread the gospel and build up local churches in an ever-increasing sphere. The apostle Paul was under a mandate because he was under vision.