At this point in lives of the disciples, they had traveled as part of Jesus' ministry for three years, watching Him work miracles and teach about God's Love. They had been with Him as He was arrested in Gethsemane and had hidden in fear as He was executed. They had heard the unbelievable news of His resurrection, and they had talked with Him and learned from Him for forty days after that first Easter Sunday. But still, after all they had seen, the question the disciples still asked was, "Is now the time to overthrow Rome?"

The theme of the book of Acts is how the Gospel spread throughout the known world from its start in Jerusalem. The writer, Luke, wanted his readers to know it was Divine Power that spread the news of salvation. To support his point, this account of the Great Commission opens with insight into the confusion the disciples still felt at this stage of their remarkable Christian Walk. I think Luke also provided us with guidance on how God prepares us for service through what we learn, what we experience, and how God leads us.

Meditations on the scriptures, like this one, largely focus on learning. From the earliest days of the Hebrew nation, God's message has been consistent that the Words from God are to be studied, committed to our hearts and minds, and treasured. These Words "light our paths" when God-less forces crowd in on us. The disciples would not have been star students in Hebrew synagogue schools, but they had learned directly from the Master, both as He spoke to multitudes, and as He taught them in private. For Jesus to spend three years teaching the disciples confirms that knowledge is important, but the disciples' response in this passage confirms that knowledge alone is not enough.

The disciples had not only learned from Jesus, but they had experienced Jesus' power in their lives. I want to distinguish between two different kinds of experience. One kind is putting into practice what we have been taught—to put it another way, "homework". Jesus provided the disciples with frequent opportunities to do what He had taught them to do, and we are to do the same. James 1:22 tells us to "be doers of the Word, and not only hearers". We cannot conclude that we have learned something if we have not put it into practice.

But experience means more than "homework". The other distinction I want to make is the experience of God's power changing us as individuals. There are events in the life of each believer where God touched us, and these are gifts we can treasure and memories that support us in difficult times. These can become undeniable foundations to our personal faith, just like the testimony in John 9:24 of a blind man whose sight had been restored by Jesus. When the religious leaders criticized and harassed this healed man, his simple response would not be shaken: "One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see." We can recall how God has intervened with us, spoken to us, and blessed us—and no one can take away from us or deny our personal history with God.

Still, while the disciples had knowledge and experience, they were only prepared to follow their own interpretations of the Good News. None of us today would make the disciples' mistake of expecting an overthrow of the Roman occupation, but we are just as susceptible to misguided thinking based on our own wishes as these men were. As this story from Acts 1 makes clear, the other fundamental component in the lives of effective believers is the Holy Spirit.

We get a small indication of the profound impact of the Holy Spirit from Jesus' reaction to the disciples' wrong idea in this passage. During His ministry, Jesus seized similar opportunities to instruct the disciples, to warn the disciples, and even to criticize the disciples for continuing to hold misguided beliefs. In this case, Jesus corrected their misconception with a simple caution that God alone sets the time frame. He knew that in a few weeks, the Holy Spirit would lead them when and where God wanted them to go. He didn't have to re-teach the lesson of the Heavenly Kingdom because He knew that the Holy Spirit would continue teaching them to discard human thinking and follow God in faith. There is no sense of frustration in Jesus' response to their lack of understanding, as there would have been for any of us, because Jesus knew God through the Spirit was coming at Pentecost.

We can apply the guidance from this passage to review the health of our spiritual Walk. Are we learning the right things, and applying what we learn? Are we treasuring our experiences of God moving in us as a foundation for our faith? Are we using that faith to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit within us? Are we committed in mind and in soul by faith to follow wherever God leads?