Apr 7, 2012

Christ's Lordship

Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. (John 2:5 ASV)

Here's another devotional by Dr. John A. Witmer. This one is about Christ's lordship and our willingness to obey His will for our lives.

Mark Twain was asked about passages of the Bible he could not understand. In his humorous, but incisive, manner, he replied, "It is not the Scriptures that I do not understand that give me trouble. It is the ones I do understand."

So it is with most of us. There are cases when we need guidance as to what the will of the Lord is. God graciously meets us in those situations when we honestly do not know what He wants us to do and He reveals His will to us and guides us through Scripture, through prayer, through circumstances, and through the Holy Spirit.

But most of the time when we face difficulties and are burdened with problems the crux of the issue is not in knowing the will of God, but in doing it. Out lack is not knowledge, but willingness. Our need is not more information, but more obedience. God will not show us more of His will until we are cheerfully carrying out that which He has revealed to us. Jesus Himself told the story of the two sons whose father asked them to work in the vineyard. One refused, but later obeyed. The other consented, but never did obey. Jesus properly asked, "Whether of them twain did the will of his father?" The correct reply was the first, who finally obeyed.

We are the "servants" of the Lord Jesus Christ, if we have believed on Him as our Savior and acknowledged Him as our Lord. If we would be instruments in His hands for the accomplishment of miracles of grace, we must likewise give heed to Mary's words, "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." Obedience is the path of blessing and true happiness. The words of this chorus are simple, but they are simply true:

Trust and obey,
for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
but to trust and obey.


Psalm 122:1

I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord." (HCSB)