Matthew 26
"Yet not as I will, but as you will."
Yesterday, we read how Jesus taught us to pray for God's will to be done. Today, we read how he lives out God's will even as he prays "may this cup be taken from me." This death is not what Jesus wants, but he is willing to submit to his will to God's. Am I willing to do what God wants, when the will of God is opposite of what I want? Are you?
Let's consider this in the day to day decisions that we make. My friend offends me, am I willing to forgive him as God desires? I encounter the poor, do I respond to their need in Jesus' name? Do I love my neighbor as myself? Am I conformed to this world or has my life been transformed by God's grace? Am I patient with an other's immaturity? Will I hold a friend in loving accountability? Can I turn the other cheek? The irony for me is that when I think of God's will I tend to focus on big decisions like which college to choose. I forget all the scriptural teachings that challenge me to live out God's will in daily living. It seems that every day I am confronted with situations that call me to follow God's will in situations where I have already learned the will of God through scripture. Can I or you be like Jesus in following God's will when it is not what we want to do?
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The way that Jesus submitted God's will is a very difficult concept for me to grasp. I suppose this is because I do not fully let go and submit everything to God's will. I still want to have control over my life, or at least think I do. The idea of giving it all is something that I am struggling with. I thought that I had made a decision and that was that, yet along comes God to tell me to do the exact opposite of what I had already decided for myself. I think it is easy to give decisions to God, the hard part is acting out what he is calling us to do, actually submitting to His will.
ReplyDeleteI happened to visit a new church over the weekend, and the current sermon series, “Can You See Him?”, talked about following God’s will. The message was God knows the entire picture, yet only shows us a little piece at a time. He compared it to chess-God knows the end result, but moves us one step at a time. In order to reach that final goal, we have to follow Him and trust Him with everything we do, every step we make. He made the point that if we haven’t heard God in awhile, maybe it’s because we’re not ready for the next move. I think the next move for me may be submitting myself to Him for a small decision. I think this will serve as a motivator for me. How awesome to know that with every action we make, if we do what He is calling us to do and following His plan, we could be one step closer to hearing Him!
Here is a link to the sermon: http://www.lifechurch.tv/message-archive/watch/can-you-see-him/2
On the radio this morning, the hosts were talking about a song that compared living our lives to running from jail on bail (or something like that). We shouldn't be just dragging our feet, waiting for something to happen. We should be doing what God calls us to do with full force. I wish that I could find the song (or remember the lyrics), but I still think that the main point is a good one.
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