Today was a very relaxing day. I had an open afternoon to head to the local coffee shop and catch up on some reading, which was great. A friend and I agreed to spend everyday this week reading through Matthew 6:9-13 until we met back up to discuss what God had taught us through it.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
I spent some time today thinking through the beginning of the prayer; “…hallowed be YOUR name. YOUR kingdom come, YOUR will be done…” I know this is a terribly profound observation (sarcasm), but I couldn’t help but notice that in this prayer, Jesus is teaching me to give preference to God’s desires and plans for my life, for the world. So, I had to ask myself whether or not that was actually the case. Then I picked up Robert Coleman’s The Master Plan of Evangelism and found some more great thoughts along the same lines.
“Jesus expected the men he was with to obey him. They were not required to be smart, but they had to be loyal…for in time obedient followers invariably take on the character of their leader.”
“Supreme obedience was interpreted to be the expression of love…Absolute obedience to the will of God, of course, was the controlling principle of the Master’s own life. In his human nature he continually gave consent to the will of His Father which made it possible for God to use his life fully according to its intended purpose.”
“The cross was but the crowning climax of Jesus’ commitment to do the will of God.”
These are ideas that I have certainly heard before, yet I have this amazing ability to forget or cease to live out what I’ve learned and heard. It was really helpful to remember that genuine love for God ends up looking like obedience and a preference for what He desires. It makes me wonder in what ways I’ve ceased to orient my life around God’s desires and have simply done my own thing instead.
