Doing the Will of God

Jesus asked the leaders, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” (Matthew 21:31). The will of a father is what he wants done. On another day, Jesus said something wonderful about people who do the will of God.

A crowded room. Jesus was teaching, and a crowd was sitting all around Him. His mother and His brothers came and stood outside, and they sent someone in to call Him (Mark 3:31-32).

Jesus' question. When the people told Him that His family was outside, Jesus asked who His mother and His brothers were (Mark 3:33).

He looked around. Then Jesus looked around at the people sitting in a circle around Him. They were the ones listening to Him (Mark 3:34).

Jesus' answer. He said that these were His mother and His brothers. Whoever does the will of God, He said, is His brother and sister and mother (Mark 3:34-35).

Not turning away. Jesus loved His mother and His family. He was not sending them away. He was showing how big His family really is.

What God's will means. The will of God is what God wants. It is His plan and His wish for His people.

What God wants first. John wrote that God's command is that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another (1 John 3:23).

Believing comes first. Before God asks us to do anything for Him, He asks us to believe in His Son. That is how the tax collectors entered God's kingdom: they believed (Matthew 21:32).

Then we obey. People who believe in Jesus begin to want what God wants. Little by little they learn to love, forgive, tell the truth and help others.

We could not get in on our own. Our sin kept us outside God's family. Being good could never make us His children.

Jesus opened the door. Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and on the third day He rose again. Now everyone who trusts Him is brought into God's family. Paul wrote that believers are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26).

Brothers and sisters. Everyone who believes in Jesus is part of one family. The believers at your church are your brothers and sisters in Jesus.

What to do. If you have never received Jesus, ask Him to make you part of His family. Then thank God for one person at church this week, and treat that person like family.

The first son in Jesus' story did his father's will only after he changed his mind (Matthew 21:29). How can we learn to do what God wants?

A prayer from David. King David once prayed and asked the Lord to teach him to do His will, because the Lord was his God (Psalm 143:10). David knew he needed God to teach him.

Led by God's Spirit. In the same prayer David said that God's Spirit is good, and he asked God to lead him on level ground (Psalm 143:10). God does not leave us to figure it out alone.

God works in you. Paul told the believers in the city of Philippi that God was at work inside them. God gives His people the wish to do what pleases Him and the power to do it (Philippians 2:13).

Not on your own. That means obeying God is not something you do all by yourself. God helps His children want what He wants.

Live it out. Paul also told them to work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). He did not mean work to earn it. They already belonged to Jesus, and they were to live like it.

Some of God's will is plain. Much of what God wants is written clearly in the Bible. Here is one example: “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

A new way of thinking. Paul wrote that we should “be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). God changes how we think, so we can see that His will is good.

Jesus did it perfectly. Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38). He never once said no to His Father.

For us. We have all failed to do God's will. Jesus did His Father's will all the way to the cross, where He died for our sins. On the third day He rose again.

Forgiven and helped. When we trust Jesus, God forgives us. Then His Holy Spirit lives in us and helps us obey.

Lasting forever. John wrote that the world and the things people want in it are passing away, but the one who does the will of God lasts forever (1 John 2:17).

What to do. Pray David's prayer each morning this week, and ask God to teach you to do His will. Then look for one thing God wants you to do that day, such as giving thanks, and do it.