Are We Willing to Adjust Our Lives to Do God’s Will?
“For this you know with certainty,
(The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 5: 5 NASB)
that no immoral or impure person or covetous man,
who is an idolater,
has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
We stand in churches and sing a melody, one that goes something like this—
I will follow You—no turning back, no turning back.
I will go where You go—no going back, no going back.
I will love who You love—No Turning Back!
Maybe like me, you have sung this melody and questioned inside your heart: Would I really?
- Follow God & not turn back?
- Go wherever God leads me to go & not return back home?
- Love the people, the individuals God loves & not turn away even when they are hard to love?
We can open our Bibles to read many narratives where others were willing to do just that, to leave the life they knew, to leave the place they called home, and to leave the people they loved and called ‘my family.’ However, maybe we have read these same narrative accounts and thought: These are historical records in God’s Word, so these people surely must have had an extra dose of FAITH than we do. Surely. Right, God?
It is a Truth—
- We have God’s Word to lead us to Jesus.
- We have God’s Word to lead us to belief in Him.
- We have God’s Word to lead us to acceptance of His Amazing Grace.
- We have God’s Word to lead us to confess our sins & to become His child.
- We have God’s Word to lead us to lay aside our IDOLS so that we can firmly & fully grab ahold of our inheritance in heaven, as we release our hold on people, on careers, on life-situations that we love MAYBE MORE THAN GOD!
- We have God’s Word to lead us to SURRENDER OUR LIVES TO GOD!
- We have God’s Word to lead us to obedience with our Father!
I am not sure if you are like me, but the apostle Paul’s letter to the believers living in the city Ephesus really strikes a nerve within me. No one desires to claim they are worshipping any IDOLS in their lives, but if we desire to follow Jesus, then we must seek the Truth & really ask ourselves—Am I Willing to Adjust My Life to Do God’s Will?
Of late, I have always found myself only lifting high my hands in praise to God when I am singing, but of late, I am also finding myself holding open my palms, held close to my sides, with my palms open & facing upward (whenever I am singing in worship). This change is occurring within me, and I know with certainty—IT IS ALL GOD’S DOING!
It is so easy to think “I’ve got this salvation & following Jesus down,” when in reality, we don’t.
It is also easy to think, “Lord, I think You would agree, I’m doing pretty good: I read my Bible; I pray; I go to church; I witness for You; I teach at church; I witness. Yep, I’m a pretty good Christian in the world’s eyes.” RIGHT THERE IS THE ISSUE!
THE ONLY ONE WHO MATTERS—IS GOD!
THE ONLY ONE WHO GETS TO SAY IF WE ARE LIVING AS WE SHOULD—IS GOD!
THE ONLY ONE WHO GRANTS SALVATION—IS GOD!
THE ONLY ONE WHO GIFTS US WITH AN ETERNAL INHERITANCE—IS GOD!
THE ONLY ONE WE SHOULD EVER LIVE TO PLEASE, FOLLOW, & OBEY—IS GOD!
If this is heavy for you, then know that I am over here, struggling under the weight, just as you. So, in closing, let me share a narrative of a man who lived thousands of years ago, a story of a man WHO GAVE UP EVERYTHING—TO FOLLOW GOD! Let’s read the account of how God used the prophet Elijah to call a man named Elisha.
“Then he [Elijah] came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
(The First Book of the Kings 19: 9-10 NASB)
He said,
[Elijah spoke these words to God]
“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts;
for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
Then GOD GAVE ELIJAH AN AMAZING OBJECT LESSON!
- God told Elijah to go stand on the mountaintop as the LORD passed by him.
- Then the LORD—GOD ALMIGHTY—came by the prophet Elijah!
- God caused the wind to make the rocks from the mountain crumble.
- God caused an earthquake to occur.
- God sent fire to the earth for Elijah to see.
- God then sent a gentle breeze, one that Elijah could hear as he stood before the LORD in stillness.
- As soon as Elijah heard the breeze, he wrapped his outer coat tighter around his body, & then Elijah went and stood at the entrance of the cave where he had been hiding from his enemy.
Then GOD SPOKE DIRECTLY TO ELIJAH!
“And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
(The First Book of the Kings 19: 13b-14 NASB)
Then he said,
[Elijah spoke these words to God]
“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts;
for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword.
And I alone am left;
and they seek my life, to take it away.”
Then GOD SPOKE AGAIN, DIRECTLY TO ELIJAH, GIVING HIM A SPECIFIC TASK TO ACCOMPLISH!
- God told Elijah to return to the wilderness near Damascus.
- God told Elijah to anoint the King of Aram.
- God told Elijah to anoint the King of Israel.
- God told Elijah to find a young farmer named Elisha, to anoint him too, for God was going to use Elisha in a mighty way for HIS PURPOSE!
- Finally, God shared with His prophet Elijah just exactly what He was going to do!
“So he departed from there
(The First Book of the Kings 19: 19-21 NASB)
[Elisha left to go where the LORD told him to go & to do the work the LORD told him to do]
and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth.
And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him.
[Elijah placed his outer coat upon Elisha’s shoulders.]
He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said,
“Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.”
And he said to him,
[Elijah said to Elisha]
“Go back again, for what have I done to you?”
So he returned from following him,
[Elisha returned to the field where he had been plowing]
and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them
and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen,
and gave it to the people and they ate.
Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.”
- Elisha left his family.
- Elisha left his career.
- Elisha ran after God’s calling on his life.
- In the Bible, Elisha’s testimony of faith can teach us so much!
Just so he would NEVER TURN BACK, Elisha slaughtered his oxen and sacrificed the oxen on a hot fire, fueled by the burning of his farming implements.
- Elisha was SERIOUS IN HIS FOLLOWING OF GOD!
- Elisha was DETERMINED TO NEVER GO BACK!
- Elisha was COMMITTED TO FOLLOW GOD!
Elisha’s commitment to God can serve as a tangible reminder of what God calls us to do.
Elisha’s turning away teaches us how we too can lay down our IDOLS, so that we may inherit the kingdom God has provided for us to receive—IF WE WILL ONLY WALK IN TOTAL FAITH!
It could be Elisha even sang his own song—
I WILL GO WHEREVER YOU LEAD ME TO GO,
FROM THIS MOMENT, I AM LAYING ASIDE WHAT I TREASURE, WHAT I DESIRE &
I AM WALKING FORWARD IN OBEDIENCE TO YOU, GOD!
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