Jesus as Lord
- Jacob Ninan
There were two sons, Jesus said, whose father wanted them to do some work. The first one said he would do it, but never did it, and the second one refused to do it, but finally went and did it (Mt.21:28-30). Jesus was trying to contrast the religious Jews of His time with the out and out sinners (v.31). But this can very well apply to us, Christians who listen to God, agree with everything He says, but finally do not do it.
There are many things concerning the will of God which we are not sure about. But ignorance is not the reason why we don't do many things which we have heard from God. Whether we have read from the Bible or heard from preachers, there are many things we have understood as the will of God for us. We also agree that we should do them. But yet it happens that we don't do many of them ultimately. The apostle James saw this danger very clearly when he warned people that they should be doers of the word rather than mere hearers (Jas.1:22).
If we have understood the will of God, agree in our heart that we should do it, and also desire to do it, why is it that we still don't do it? It seems that we have not given Jesus His place as the Lord of our day to day life (Lk.6:46). We choose to do our own will in spite of knowing what the will of God is.
Jesus said that if we loved Him we would do what He said (Jn.14:15). But as it is, we love ourselves more. We see Him as Someone to serve us rather than as One we should serve. But if we see Him as One who gave Himself for us, the natural response should be to give ourselves for Him, to do His will (2Co.5:15). It is not enough if we make one act of commitment to Him, but we also need to take up our cross daily, deny ourselves, and follow Him (Lk.9:23). That is the way to show our love for Him.