Following Jesus

'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16).

Is following God’s will important to you? When asked many will say it is important, but the real question is, “Is it the most important call in your life or are there other things more important?” or “Do you put God’s will on the back burner while you focus on your own will?” These are questions that demand a sincere answer from the deepest realm of our heart. If following Christ is our highest priority in life then His will must be the most important facet of life. We must make accomplishing His will our top priority.

Accomplishing the Father’s will should be the focus of any child of God. His will has provided us with His grace to give us what we don’t deserve. His will has given us His mercy to see that we don’t get what we do deserve. Paul said it like this: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). God’s grace and mercy has delivered us from the burden of earning anything from Him. He gives life as a free gift through His grace. Through His mercy He delivers us from our earnings, which is what sin produces in us, death. Because of the vast display of love shown through these attributes of God, we are faithful to His will (Romans 1:14).

But the call to faithfulness is what we receive within God’s will and that causes some to shy away from total dedication to its purpose: “For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:7). Devotion to God’s will separates us from those who live for their own desires and has given us opportunity to walk in His light. God knows that man cannot direct his own steps (Jeremiah 10:23) so He dressed His love in flesh to guide mankind’s steps in His truth. The truth is His word (John 17:17) and truth is what will set us free from Satan’s power of sin and death (John 8:32). Being humble and allowing God’s will to change us gives God’s grace the power to mold us into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). When we are walking in the Light of His love we are permitting God to create in us “a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17), molded by the pattern of His Son. This new creation makes faithfulness a worthy call to follow.

God’s will for His children is that we allow His Spirit to work in us “to become conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). As we see the manner of life in which Jesus lived, we can easily conclude that accomplishing God’s will is what His life is all about: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34). To be conformed to the image of Christ is to die to our own desires and set out to accomplish the work God has given us in this life to carry out. We have been given life to know God and to set our minds to fully fulfill His will in the words we speak and the works we do. When we allow our flesh to dictate how we live, we refuse God’s work in us and that causes us to remain in the image of the world. We must die to live for God.

If you are a disciple of Jesus then you are willing to give your life to fulfill the will of God who “called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). You are willing to let go of anything that may hinder your relationship with God. You cannot seek God’s will half-heartedly, at least if following Jesus is truly important to you.

In His Grace,
Cub