funny moment from today's reading... Jesus tells the disciples to get some swords. when they come to arrest him, the NLT records Peter as saying, "Should we fight, Lord? We brought the swords!" his eagerness was amusing.
but the moment that jumped out at me was when Jesus was praying for God's will to be done, not Jesus's. so much theology comes from this one prayer... and the salvation of the world arguably rests on its outcome.
so it's worth pondering... one thing i learned over the last year or so was that a very good prayer for us to pray is that God will help us WANT to do His will in our lives. in other words... i want to do what He wants me to do, so i pray that He will increase my desire to do the thing that He wants. it worked! after praying this for months, my desire to become a priest dwindled and my desire to get married grew very strong.
but, returning to Jesus's praying this... it does logically bring up the question: what if Jesus had done what He wanted instead of what God wanted for Him? He would have missed out on the greatest story in the history of the world. what Jesus wanted to do in that moment was NOT to die a horrible painful death. but if He hadn't, would He have experienced the glorious resurrection that followed?
when we face the will of God for our lives, it often looks scary and painful. and it often IS those things. but when we choose His will over our own, the results will always be an amazing thing that we never could have foreseen.
God, please help me continue to choose your will over my own.
1 comment:
Good readings today. The OT readings keep me amazed at Gods patience with His creation. Day after day reading after reading, His people continue to turn from Him and begin to follow pagan idols. God pulls away His protection and humans do what they want......things fall apart, enemies attack and they start crying out to God. How much simpler and fulfilling would their lives be without this running away? Hummmmm.....is there a message to us there? God is amazing in that He allows us the freedom to do our own will, but history shows us the consequences of this mindset but we do it as history shows over and over, yet when we turn from sin God is waiting for us.
God please continue to have patience with your creation and I will try my hardest to keep my eyes focused on You.
Post a Comment