Not My Will But Yours, O God

"Today's Devotion" For March 4, 2006

Read: Matthew 26:36-42; Psalm 40

NOT MY WILL BUT YOURS, O GOD!

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing, and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)

There is probably nothing more difficult for human beings than to subject ourselves to "God's Will." A couple of days ago, our thoughts were directed to the truth that God's wisdom - the Cross and the sacrifice of Christ - is foolishness according to human thinking. One of the examples used was that God's wisdom established marriage as a union of opposite sexes, not the same sexes. It was noted that "procreation" has always been at the heart of that union, and was God's intent - and is still His intent for that union.

That human beings have turned that concept on its ear there can be no doubt. Because of the sinful, unloving and disobedient behavior of many men in Israel in the wilderness, Moses had to issue a "certificate of divorce" in order to protect a divorced wife from being labeled an adulteress. Was it God's Will that divorce occur. Of course not! But it was the result of Sin - and still is - and so civil protections were put in place for the benefit of the unjustly divorced party. If we have a 50% divorce rate at this time of history, does that negate the value or purpose of marriage in God's eye sor that marriage is intended by Him to be between a man and a woman? Of course not!

Some have noted that medical science now allows us to help couples form families by means of artificial insemination, surrogate motherhood, and fertility treatments when they're unable to have children of their own. We also see people adopting orphans (a very Biblical concept by the way - in Christ we receive "adoption as sons" - cf. Eph. 1:5; Rom. 8:23; 9:4) in order to begin families. There is no doubt that we are able to accomplish through medicine what the human body is not able to do on its own, but we've rarely, if ever, asked whether we ought to be doing those things. God may allow us to do these things, but that doesn't mean He approves of them. And, since the model of a family He gives us in Scripture is one where mothers and fathers raise children (the Proverbs as well as a myriad other sections of Scripture lay this foundation of the family out for us) there's a pretty good chance ("tongue-in-cheek">:) that such a structure is His will.

Human beings would like to believe that they've evolved into wiser and better people; that our culture and societal norms are a far cry from the "barbaric" past. Yet it seems we've become so "sophisticated" in our thinking and doing that we rarely, if ever raise the question, "Is this really God's Will?" It's just because of such willfulness on our part that Jesus had to come into the world to redeem us from Sin, Death, and Satan. God doesn't force us to obey Him so there are many things we do that, when looked at closely, are not in keeping with His will. However, because humanity doesn't even think to ask the question, "Is this really God's Will?" we end up doing things we probably shouldn't be doing, even if it seems to be a "good" thing to do from a human perspective.

Jesus came to be the pure and perfect, sinless Son of the Father that no human being since the Fall into Sin could ever be. In complete obedience Jesus went the way of the Cross. In His agony in Gethsemane, in the face of the great temptation to walk away from the task ahead of Him, in the face of Satan's fierce onslaught on His heart and spirit, Jesus in perfect obedience to the Father to do only His will. His prayer, in His agony, is an example of perfect obedience for us to follow as He prayed, "nevertheless, not My will but Your be done" (Matthew 26:39). Jesus set the example for us of obedience to and concern for the Father's Will in our own lives. St. Paul reminds us that we need to renew our minds - change our thinking from the world's to God's - so that we might live our lives in His way, not ours. By His grace in Jesus He gives us His wisdom and strength to seek His Will for our lives and living that we may serve Him and be effective witnesses to others of His love and forgiveness in Jesus.

Prayer: Father, when I pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, I too often am only paying lip service to such obedience on my part. I rather like how the world does things, and I don't really want to be different from everyone else because I live according to Your Will, especially since Your Will so often flies in the face of human convention. Forgive me Father for seeking validation for my choices from the world instead of Your Word. Forgive me for seeking to conform to the world's ways of doing things rather than Yours. Give me the strength of faith in Jesus, by the power of Your Word and Spirit that will allow me to seek Your Will, be obedient to it, and stand as a witness to it, even when others might consider me to be unloving or foolish for doing so. Hear my prayer, gracious Father, for the sake of Jesus. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright © 2006 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.