Doing the Will of God

8:08 pm

2/1/12 Wednesday

Little York

            From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto His disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many thing of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee.”

But He turned and said unto Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”

(Matthew 17:21-23)

This conversation between Peter and the Lord scares me. There are a few things here that just scares me. First, that the Lord called Peter, “Satan” and next, that the Lord said to him, “Thou art an offense to me.”

Ok, I’m assuming that Satan planted these thoughts to Peter, that the Lord should not die at all. But did Satan really planted that thought, or did Peter come up of it on his own? I mean, for crying out loud, your friend that you love is talking about dying, what are you going to say? Of course, you’re going to react with, “No, this is not going to happen to you!” And yet, Jesus, had called Peter, “Satan” for it. Why? Because the Lord had one mission on earth – and that is, to die for our sins! For the whole mankind so that they might be saved. But Peter did not know this! To be called “Satan” is a little bit scary. It means that Peter’s desire was as similar with Satan’s desire. No, Satan would not want the Lord to die for our sins and give us the power to be forgiven. That would take away all his fun in torturing us and belonging to him for good.

Second thing though, how many times have I offended the Lord? And if I could hear His voice every time I question and complain and rant and rages, I’m sure I’m an offense to Him. How His heart must grieve and would hold me a far off and would not care for me. Ugh, I dread to think how many times I’ve offended Him. I’m almost sure and positive the Lord has felt this way towards me, “Chin, thou art an offense to me.” Really, how many times have I questioned Him and His will and the way things happen in my life and wonder why He’s allowing those things to happen to me. Like Peter, I’m looking at the “things of men” and not of God. I dread the thought of how many times the Lord has felt this way towards me.

Oh, Jesus! Save me. I’m sorry, Father. Forgive me….and help me to resist offending You.

Lastly, the very idea, of the Lord accepting death. And being so angry at anyone who will try to persuade Him otherwise, is beyond belief. Talk about complete and utter dedication! Who can feel this way in a heart beat? Unless they are full of the Holy Ghost, day in and day out, who can say this with a ready mind, “Yes, Lord, even until death, I will be obedient.” Maybe when you’ve prayed through, fasted and prayed almost 24 hours every day? Maybe? Surely, even that mind set has to be given to us by God. For who, in the things of the flesh, us, fleshy, can say this so easily, whatever it is – whatever the Lord is asking for us to do, be so willing in a heart beat, obey Him? I know and I believe it is possible...but only through the Holy Ghost and God giving that willingness to us in our hearts. Otherwise, it is impossible.

What amazes me as well about the Lord’s response is that He’s so focused, so goal minded, so set in doing the will of God. And I know He wants us to be like Him exactly on this. To be so set in our hearts and soul about His will and His plans for us that whoever comes and tries to persuade us we can also turn around and rebuke them, “Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savourest not the things of God but the things of men!” But the reality is, even after we’ve prayed through and fasted, most of us would rather think that the Lord would rather have us choose life than death. Many of us would rather think that God wants to prosper us and make it so well with us, He couldn’t possibly be thinking about us literally laying down our lives for Him, did He? And yet, the Lord said that unless we lose our lives for His sake we will lose it. What a sobering thought.

One last thing, I have to say, despite of my amazement over the reaction of the Lord towards His death…I have to say, I love Him for it. He meant business from the minute He was born until the day He did His Father’s will. I love Him so very much that He was dedicated and set in His heart until the end, to die for me.

I feel very humbled and sobered. I don’t know if I could ever come to that kind of devotion Jesus Christ had to doing the will of God. But I know with Him nothing is too hard; therefore I pray, I hope and pray, He will bless me with it. Amen.