John 4:31-38 APPETITE FOR GOD’S WILL
“Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying. ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one anther, ‘Has anyone brought Him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘MY FOOD IS TO THE WILL OF HIM WHO SENT ME AND TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WORK.’”
Jesus had a huge appetite to do the will of the Father who sent Him. When Jesus started His ministry, He spent a lot of His time fasting, praying, preaching, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, healing the sick and the afflicted. He did everything out of obedience to God the Father even coming down from heaven. "Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, 'Behold, I have come to do Your will. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all." (Hebrews 10:5, 9-10)
WHAT IS THE WILL OF GOD?
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us for adoption to Himself as SONS through Jesus Christ, ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE OF HIS WILL, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the MYSTERY OF HIS WILL, according to His purpose, which He set for in Christ as a PLAN FOR THE FULLNESS OF TIME, TO UNITE ALL THINGS IN HIM, THINGS IN HEAVEN AND THINGS ON EARTH.”
GOD'S WILL IS FOR US TO:
- Bless us abundantly from His heavenly riches
- Know that we have been chosen by Him for a purpose
- Be holy and blameless before the Lord
- Adopt us into His family as His children by believing in Jesus Christ (John 1:12)
- Praise God for His glory
- Redeem us from our sins and the penalty thereof
- Forgive us by His grace
- Make known to us what He desires to do on earth
- Reconcile all things in Him through Jesus Christ
PRAYER
Father God, we thank You for Jesus. You gave Him to us to save us and to reconcile us back to You. Jesus, we thank you for Your gracious and obedient heart to do God's will even knowing that it will cost Your life. Teach us to be more like You and give us a willing and obedient heart to follow You. There are so many times that we are tempted to do what our flesh desires. And for those times that we submit to temptations, we ask for Your forgiveness. We want to say, "Yes, Lord" in everything that You ask us to do, no matter how hard it is and how much it hurts. Father, only You can change our stubborn hearts. So please soften our hearts and make it more and more like Jesus'. In His name we pray, amen!