This morning we looked at living according to God’s will (see Luke 22:42). It isn’t always easy to know God’s will and there are times when His will definitely goes beyond our understanding (as Joseph and Job could both testify.) Nonetheless, as we read the Bible, pray and have fellowship, there are many things which God makes plain are His will – and if we want to know His will, we have to start by doing the things He has plainly commanded.
The first thing to note is that it is God’s will that people are saved and come to repentance. (2 Pet 3:9) We know that God wants us to have eternal life (John 3:16) and that our chief work is to believe in Jesus (John 6:29). Since faith is essential to pleasing God, then our lives must be faith-filled.
1 Thess 5:18 gives us sound advice for living according to God’s will: we are called to give thanks in all circumstances. This is possible because God is with us in every situation and is working for good in all things. (Rom 8:28) We have to let reason, faith and hope into our emotional turmoil when things are difficult and choose to give thanks.
Micah 6:8 outlines other ‘obvious’ areas which please God: acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with Him. In this, we are simply reflecting how Jesus lived and being salt and light to the world. We cannot afford to be hypocrites; we need to reflect God’s nature to a world which desperately needs to see the invisible God through His visible followers.
We may well wonder why so few people choose God’s will above their own. God’s will is never forced upon us, since He gave us free will and we must now choose – either to follow His will and ways or to follow our own choices. If we want to be blessed and live life to the full, we need transformation by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2) and can then know and obey His good, pleasing and perfect will.