13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” 15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” 16 This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again. (Acts 10:13–16, NKJV)
Wouldn’t it be grand if parents could tell their child to do some chore only once, and the child would forever do the parents’ will? Of course, that rarely happens. Repetition is important to the learning process. We should not expect it to be different with teaching and learning the will of our Heavenly Father. God sent Peter a vision telling him to do the same thing three times, thereby emphasizing God’s determination in the matter, as well as His expectation that Peter accept the lesson and obey Him (which he did, Acts 10:28-29). God’s word patiently teaches, but we must be willing to learn. Let us learn quickly and obey fully. God’s patient teaching of His word is not our license to disobey Him or otherwise neglect His commands. Repetitious teaching also helps breakdown objections in the good and honest heart (as it did with Peter here). Repetitious teaching also gives us protection from falling back into sin (Philippians 3:1). Furthermore, repetitious teaching helps us remember what we have previously learned (2 Peter 1:12-15). Let us not get bored with hearing God’s word repeated time and again. Such instruction is for our learning, our exhortation, and our spiritual safety.
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