Note that the twelve apostles were chosen first “that they should be with Him,” and then “that He might send them forth to preach.” Sad to say, many of us Christians seek to go out in service for the Lord before we have been in His presence in fellowship and worship, and thus our service is fleshly, and also without any abiding results. Our Lord said, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” It was only after Isaiah said that “mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts,” that he could say, “Here am I, send me.” Is this not the reason for much of our spiritual powerlessness? We think that we must always be doing something. We forget that the Lord not only said, “Go ye”; He also said, “Come ye yourselves apart.” “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” They “shall go in and out.” Let us be sure that we go in unto Him before we go out to others. Then we can say, “I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of Thy righteousness, even of Thine only.”
We have no message to carry,
Except it come from the Lord,
As we tarry in His presence,
And feed our hearts on His Word.
John 10:9; Isa. 6:5,8; Mark 16:15; 6:31; Isa. 40:31; Psa. 71:16.