Ezekiel 2.1-3
He said to me, ‘Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.’ As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.” He said: ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day.’
In Acts 9, the Lord instructed Paul to ‘get up and go into the city.’ But in Acts chapter 26.15-17, Paul adds something: Then I asked, “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” the Lord replied. “Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them.” (Acts 26.15-17)
‘Get up and stand on your feet’. Is it possible that Paul was comparing his call to that of Ezekiel who was told ‘Stand up on your feet and I will speak to you’? Ezekiel then experienced the Spirit of God entering him (2.2), and in 2.3 God says ‘I am sending you to the Israelites.’ Paul’s commission went further: ‘I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light.’ His mission went beyond that of Ezekiel, to include Gentiles as well as Israelites. Both Ezekiel and Paul were empowered by the Spirit to carry out their calling. We may not be called for such a major task as they were, but we too have the indwelling Spirit to enable us to do whatever God has called us to.
Spirit, I’m up on my feet, what is it you have in store for me today.
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