Just Do It

“Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.” (Joh 12:27 AV)

The following may be worthy of comprehensive theological debate.  Nonetheless, I believe it is invaluable to the saint as he matures into Christlikeness.  Our Savior had a duel nature.  He was completely human and is completely God.  How these two natures co-existed us beyond comprehension and not worthy of debate.  In that duel nature, there were conflicts.  Conflicts of the will.  Although Jesus Christ always wanted to do the will of the Father, it is evident in his human nature he struggled with it.  This does not intimate in his human nature Jesus sinned with his heart.  The wrestling of the will to conform is not sin!  It is just the opposite.  The statement above is just that.  The human nature of Christ is conforming to the divine nature of Christ and the two were, even if ever so slightly and temporarily, in conflict.   What we want to notice is the essence of Christlikeness.  That is, submitting to the perfect will of God and conforming to His will even though we may not initially want to.

For us, it slightly different in that we often do things against our desire because our will is to be obedient.  Our heart may not be completely in it.  The mark of maturity is doing what we don’t really want to do simply because we are asked to do it.  Jesus Christ confronted a temptation that we will never have to face.  That is: having diving power of omnipotence and at the same time being asked to do something we would rather not.  Our challenge is simple submission whereas Christ’s temptation was complex submission.

I minister to so many people who will not be told what to do.  What is amazing to me is these folks, mostly adults, demand a level of obedience from their children which they are not willing to give to the LORD!  If the Bible told them to do something, or refrain from something, they will do as they please all the while beating their child for disobedience.  What is even worse is they claim a level of spirituality superior to their own children. If we say we are spiritually mature, they we will do as we are asked even if we may not have the desire for no other reason that we have been asked!