What does “Go!” mean?

Sunday 2-1-15 (Home)   Scripture reading:          Exod 30-32           Acts 8

S.  Acts 8:39-40 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing.  Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the city of Azotus!  He preached the Good News there and in every city along the way until he came to Caesarea. NLT

O.  Right in the middle of a great move in Samaria, an angel of the Lord instructed Phillip to leave all this and go to a desert road in Gaza.  There he found the treasurer of Ethiopia riding in his carriage while reading part of the book of the prophet Isaiah, but did not understand.  Phillip instructed him, led him to become a believer in Jesus the Messiah, baptized him in an oasis pond of water and suddenly was “caught up” by the Lord only to find himself in the city of Azotus. 

A.  The appearance of an angel to call Phillip from his powerful evangelistic campaign in Samaria speaks to me of how far God will go to reach out to a hungry Ethiopian heart.  But it also speaks strongly to me of the times that the Lord nudged me to “go” somewhere and I just didn’t see the sense in it and did not “go”.  On the other hand I can name several wonderfully fruitful missions that the Lord sent me on by whispering a silent “Go!”into my heart.  

“Go” means action and when we are situated comfortably we can easily talk ourselves out of “go-ing”.  It is easier to pull the covers over our heads and drift off into troubled sleep.

In His great commission Jesus said, “Go!”  I once asked a group of school children K through 4^th grade, “What does ‘go’ mean?”  Several attempted to answer without actually using the word.  Finally a boy in the back of the auditorium raised a hand and yelled, “It just means to GO!” 

Hey, you there!  Yeah, you… sitting comfortably in front of your computer.  You ought to try it next time the Lord nudges you.

P.  Lord God, it would be awesome to experience a sudden heavenly transportation like Brother Phillip.  Wheeesh… and I’m there!!!  But I notice that You did not transport him to the Gaza desert.  You made him walk the whole 50 miles.  You just gave him a free ride to his next assignment after he had successfully completed his mission to save one man.  Lord please help me to quit dreaming about being transported effortlessly like an angel to preach to a whole city and make me willing to rise quickly and obediently and “go” at Your next nudging to reach one hungry soul.