Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Luke 9:59-62
59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
(NIV)
(Prayer)
Imagine you are walking down a hall and there is a door ahead of you. God’s will is on the other side of this door. We wonder what is waiting on the other side of the door for us. Will God show us what is on the other side of this door? No! Why not? Because we first have to resolve an issue on this side of the door. If He is Lord, He has the right to determine the will for our lives. If we don’t afford Him that right, then we are not acknowledging Him as Lord. Most of the time that we are reluctant to follow God’s will usually means that we have some sin in our lives from which we haven’t repented. It may be the sin of pride, the sin of the love of money, sexual sins or some other sin. As long as our minds are set on this physical world, then we will never see God’s plan for our lives.
Why do we want to know what is on the other side of the door? Is it because we want to be able to make a choice as to whether we want to accept it or not? Some may open the door but keep one foot in place so the door can’t close behind them. Are we more knowing than God is? Are we more mighty than God is? No, of course not. So why do we try to control our own lives instead of accepting God’s will for our lives? God is all knowing, all loving and the Good Shepherd. Would a good shepherd lead his sheep into harms way? No! So why do we insist on doing it our way? Before I let Christ control my life, I thought that I could do a pretty good job of running my life and family. Looking back I now can see the many mistakes that I made, because of pride and wanting to be in control. Once I finally turned the control of my life over to Jesus, everything just seems to fall into place. Jesus is not only my Savior, but He is the Lord of my life. This means that He makes the decisions. He leads and I follow. Since I have allowed Jesus to be Lord over my life, it has been great. I don’t worry about things anymore, because I know that Christ is capable of leading my life.
Jesus said "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." When we open that door and see God’s will for our lives and turn to look back then we are not letting Christ be the Lord of our lives. This is why Jesus told the man who wanted to follow Him, but first wanted to bury his father, to let the dead bury their own dead. God’s will for our lives must be first and foremost. Our love and faith in the Lord should be greater than the love of any material things that we process. I know that God’s love for me is more important than anything that I process. I have gotten to a point in my life where I yearn to be in fellowship with God constantly. I would rather be reading the Bible, listening to a sermon or really preaching the Gospel, than anything else. It kind of like loving your wife so much, that when you have to go on a business trip, you really miss her and want to be with her. This is how we should feel toward God. The greatest thing about God is that when I do go on a business trip I can and do take God with me.
Matt 19:16-22
16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
18 "Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, "’Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,
19 honor your father and mother,’ and ’love your neighbor as yourself.’"
20 "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
(NIV)
Many times we refuse to do God’s will because it may mean that we have to give up something. God’s will for you may mean that you need to take a lesser paying job or move from your familiar surroundings. Are you willing to do this? By opening that door, you may find that God’s will for you is to become a missionary in Africa or even worse a pastor of a small church. We can’t see the whole picture, but God can. He knows that if we would relinquish control to Him, we would experience the greatest joy of our lives. God created us, He made us and He knows us. He knows where we would be most effective in His ministry and at the same time be the happiest. If we would follow Christ where ever He leads, by the time we got there, we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. When we die, our processions will remain here for someone else to have. Whatever we have is only temporary. But if we are serving God by leading others to Christ, then our rewards are eternal. Here on this earth we may never know if our words and actions leads others to Christ, but once in Heaven we will know the effect our lives had on others. So always let the light of Christ shine through you and teach the Gospel to whoever will listen. You may just plant a seed in someone that will grow into that person having an eternal life with God.
Rom 12:1-2
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship.
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will.
(NIV)
Do you believe that the will of God is good, pleasing and perfect for you? God is perfect and His will for us is perfect and righteous. I have heard people say that this or that is God’s will for me. Someone may say that God’s will is to divorce my wife and go to the mission field. In the above verses we read that we are not to conform any longer to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. In this way we will be able to test the spirit and know if it is from God. God’s will for our lives will never lead us into sin or into anything that Christ has told us not to do. God’s will is perfect. If what we are about to do includes sin, and then it is not God’s will that you are listening to. Know God’s Word. Read and study the Bible. Pray earnestly. God will lead and guide you on a trip through life that is greater than anything you could ever imagine. But you first must open the door and go through. Once on the other side close and lock the door behind you and throw away the key. This takes faith. Faith comes from hearing and reading the Word. We are all called into God’s service in some way. How are you serving and is it God’s calling or your own desires? Just think how many people could be led to the Lord if we would accept God’s will and use the gifts of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. If you have accepted Christ has your Savior and Lord, then you have received gifts from the Holy Spirit. Some receives more than others do and we each receive the gifts that God intends for us to use to serve Him. We need to start using these gifts for their intended purposes. There are so many people out there that needs to hear the Word. Who will tell them if you don’t?
My prayer for you today is that you will seek God’s will for your life. If you are not doing anything to serve God, then you are not in His will. Repent from your sins, seek His face and let Him become the Lord of you life today. I promise you that you will not regret it. You will experience happiness and peace in your life that you thought would never be possible. So what if He leads you to a far away country. Haven’t you always wanted to see the world? People in Asia, Africa and South America needs to hear about Jesus too. Who will tell them if no one goes? You have people living in you neighborhood that needs to hear the gospel too. If God is not leading you to Africa, then at least use this time to witness to your neighbors. If you don’t know God’s will for your life, then pray today and ask God to show you. But if you pray for God’s will, then be prepared to let God lead and make sure you are willing to follow.
If you are here today and you haven’t understood what we have been talking about, then you need to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. We are all sinners and God cannot accept sin in our lives. But God loves us so much that He allowed His only Son, Jesus Christ to be born on this earth and to give us God’s word. But to be cleansed of our sins, there had to be a blood sacrifice. That sacrifice was Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life here on earth without sin. Jesus loves us so much that He was willing to be sacrificed on an old Roman Cross where He died for our sins. He took my sins and your sins on Himself and died on that Cross. 3 days later He arose and now sits at the right hand of God in Heaven. Anyone who confesses with their mouth that Jesus is the Son of God and accepts Him as their Savior and believes in their hearts that Jesus lives today will be saved. You will have eternal life with God in heaven. If you never call upon the name of Jesus for salvation, then you will spend eternality suffering in torment in hell forever and ever. Where do you want to spend eternality? Heaven or Hell. You may say that you don’t believe in hell. That is your choice, but what if you are wrong?
Come now and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.
