““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 7:21 ESV
I read this verse over the weekend and it hit me hard. I’ve read it probably over a hundred times easily and, somehow, this time, it hit me like a Mac truck. There was something there for me this time that maybe I’ve glazed over so many other times in the past.
“Do I really do the will of the Father? Or am I just doing what I think is good and right? Have I asked the Father what his will actually is lately?”
Those questions came in like a flood. I call Him Lord. But that’s not enough, is it? You have to mean it by bending every aspect of your life around His will and desire. Only then is He truly your Lord.
It is easy for me to rely on last season’s revelation…to not be paying close enough attention to what God is doing right NOW that I just keep doing the old thing when it’s really time for a new thing. It’s like God was heading east last week and somehow, he took a turn and started heading north, but I just wasn’t watching and listening well enough to see He’s changed directions…so I’m still heading east. But God is north now!
Sometimes, I’m doing a good thing, but not the right thing. And only God can say what is right over what is good.
“…but the one who does the will of my Father…”
There is a general will of God for us - it applies to all of us - which is laid out clearly in scripture. God’s will is that we avoid sin (scripture teaches what sin is) and we pursue relationship with God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ by the power and working of his Holy Spirit. This is God’s will for everyone.
Then there is a special will of God for each of us - it is individualized according to our callings, passions, giftings, and His specific leading in our lives. It may be God’s will for me to be in vocational ministry as a worship pastor and it may be God’s will for you to be a stay at home mother. Two different directions. Two different people. Both God’s will.
Sometimes, I get comfortable with the general will of God, but hesitate to let God have control of my decisions that don’t have to do with sin, rather how I spend my time and the direction I take with my life. I want to maintain the power and control over those areas. I will obey God and flee from sin, but let me choose my own path when it comes to career, money, hobbies, relationships, free time, family size, etc.
But this verse…
““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 7:21 ESV
It doesn’t say, “…but the one who abstains from sin…” or “…but the one who lives a moral life…” or “…but the one who is kind like Jesus…”
It says, “…but the one who does the will of my Father…”
I read that verse and as that Mac truck of truth hit me straight in my chest, I had to ask myself, “Am I more concerned with fulfilling His will or my own? Whose will is the greater priority of my life? Mine or His?”
Wow. That question shone a light straight into a dark corner of my heart that wasn’t fully surrendered yet. I still want my way. I do. And more often than I’d care to admit, I look to fulfill my will before I seek to even find out what God’s will is for me.
I’m not surrendered fully.
The Lord in His kindness brought this to me because it is time to yield. It is time to ask more frequently, “Lord, what is YOUR will for me here?”
What about you? How often do you first look to fulfill your own will before even considering the Lord’s will? Whose will is the highest priority? His or yours?
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