Created To Do God's Will

"Today's Devotion" For April 25, 2005

Read: I John 2:15-17; Romans 1:18-32

CREATED TO DO GOD'S WILL

"The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." (I Jn. 2:17)

What a wonderful creation the world is! Just look around at the earth and you'll see some pretty phenomenal things. God's creation is magnificent, a thing of beauty, and a marvelous blessing. I stand awestruck at the magnificent way God has created the plants and the animals. Observing rivers, streams, and creeks meandering and wandering throughout the landscape reflects the ongoing nature of God's creation as these ever moving bodies of water continue to carve niches in the earth. The power of the oceans and the calm of the lakes show the power of God's hand in nature. His majesty and his glory are reflected in mountain ranges. Gazing at the stars, feeling the warmth of the sun, and observing the effect of the moon on everything from tides to human behavior, it's not too difficult to realize God's eternal, ever-present nature.

In sharp contrast to the marvels of Creation and the power of God reflected in the Creation, stands all the things we human beings, created and blessed by God, have invented to harness all the power of God's Creation. We've harnessed many of the principles of physics in order to provide transportation to the store, across oceans, through the air, and to the moon. Everyday the principles of chemistry which continue to keep God's creation green (the chemical reaction called photosynthesis), immunize people from diseases (vaccines), and heal the sick (medicines) continue to guide us to new understandings of God's created order. The principles of science in general and the creative energy which God gave each of us specifically, provide our world with wondrous inventions and magnificent artistry. By using these gifts and blessings, we're able to participate with our Father in heaven in His Creation and His preservation of His Creation.

Sadly, despite all of these wonderful blessings from the creating hand of God, our world is still filled with great evil which would seek to destroy all of God's Creation, especially humanity. Since the Fall into Sin (Gen. 3), human beings have misused and abused God's Creation. As St. Paul notes in his letter to the Romans, rather than people using the blessings of Creation for the good of others, sinful human beings have abused Creation and have worshiped it rather than its Creator. Humanity carries on the Sin of Adam and Eve, losing sight of God's will and allowing Sin to disrupt both our lives and the environment in which we live. We allow our egos and our accomplishments in harnessing the forces of nature to get in the way of the Will of God. We're also warned by John to avoid the trap of allowing our ambitions, desires, lusts, and cravings to take first place in our lives, and thus displace God..

Putting our focus on the "here and now" is one of the most challenges that Sin places at our feet. We human beings find it to be so very easy to put our focus on what we want rather than what God wants; focusing on the present and immediate gratification rather than the future when we're received into our Father's house in heaven, where we will live for all eternity because of Jesus Christ. By God's grace and mercy, we are changed, our thinking cleared, so that we don't focus our felt needs and ambitious desires for what we human beings consider success. God sends His Spirit to us each day in His Word and in our Baptisms so that we might know and live in His love as forgiven and restored creatures of our Creator. Living in that love of God in Jesus Christ, our lives are re-created each and every day so that we might live in God's forgiveness, be filled with care and concern for others, and focus our lives on sharing Christ's love with others who are still lost and dying in their Sin. We plan our lives around our felt needs and ambitious desires to be achievers. Yet God only expects us to know and live in His love, so that we might live forgiven lives, full of caring and concern for others. We share His love with others as we have received it so that others might know the same hope of eternal life in heaven just as we have received.

Prayer: Father, doing Your will is really hard at times. I'm tempted by the "pleasure" and "prestige" this world can give me. The world presents them so appealingly that they sure look good to me. As I face those temptations each day, give me, I pray, the faith and wisdom I need to overcome all temptation and focus my life on doing Your Will and sharing Your love in Christ with a lost and fallen world. Hear me, gracious Father, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright © 2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.