His Will be Done
by Ken Idleman
Would you agree with me that it is really hard to stay motivated, especially in areas that we know are good for us!? Anything that requires self-denial or self-discipline is difficult to stay with on a consistent basis. At the top of the list is diet and exercise. Why is it so darn hard to tell yourself ‘No’ to junk food and push yourself to eat healthy? And why is it such an ordeal to roll out of bed early and do pushups and sit ups or lace up the running shoes to start the day? I think it has to be part of our fallen condition, our sinful nature, that we intuitively pursue ease, convenience and passivity. Even in the realm of our spiritual life, it can be a struggle to stay motivated. There is a reason we refer to solitude, Bible study, prayer and fasting as spiritual disciplines.
Life’s greatest fulfillment is in knowing the Lord, loving the Lord and serving the Lord. Ephesians 1:14 declares that our Creator’s purpose is to “bring everything in heaven and earth together in unity under Jesus Christ.” And what is His plan to accomplish this ambitious mission? You and I are the plan! And the plan is evangelism… testifying to others about the Good News, the Gospel, by public preaching and personal witness. It will require discipline! So how can we stay motivated to be consistently stronger witnesses for Jesus Christ?
Here are the four Biblical truths that motivate me to daily be involved in witnessing, outreach and evangelism. Moving from the lowest to the highest motive…
1. Christ has commanded it and I want to obey Him. The imperative thrust is there in the words of Jesus at the end of each of the four Gospels.
“All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me … Go then, make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
“Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” (Mark 16:15)
“You are witnesses of these things [crucifixion and resurrection].” (Luke 24:48)
“Feed my lambs. … Take care of my sheep. … Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17)
The most important words our mortal lips will ever form are three: “CHRIST IS LORD!” We must agree with what the centurion declared in Matthew 8:8-9, “I am a man under authority with soldiers under my authority.” He understood something about Jesus that some Christ-followers do not truly understand. When He says ‘Go,’ we go. When He says, ‘Come,’ we come. When He says, ‘Do this,’ we do it! Otherwise, we must answer His probing question, “Why do you call me Lord and do not do the things I say?” (Luke 6:46). Let’s be compelled to act by the Lord of the Harvest, “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15).
2. I have been entrusted with the Gospel and I want to fulfill that trust. “[God] has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20). Stronger witness is not just a command to be obeyed, it is a trust, an expectation, to be fulfilled. The Apostle Paul testifies, “I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am eager to preach the gospel…” (Romans 1:14).
God has given us something to give to others. We owe the lost world what God has given to us to give to them. We are His plan – His only plan. He is counting on us to come through, to finish His work. “Give as freely as you have received!” (Matthew 10:8).
3. I love people and I want to see the highest good experienced by them in this life and I want to see them saved in the greater life. We have climbed up yet another step on the ladder of motivation. This is the next to the highest motive for becoming stronger witnesses for Christ.
Nothing brings out the best in people like the loving Lordship of Jesus. In nations where the Gospel has advanced, that country has flourished. And when an individual life has been spiritually awakened or renewed, that person is invariably destined for bigger and better things. You see this in Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene, Nicodemus, the woman at the well and many others known in Scripture. And the compassionate love of Jesus, extended to others through those of us who have experienced it, results in their salvation in both this life and the greater life to come.
4. I care deeply about God’s good Name being honored by people of every tongue, tribe and nation. This is the highest motivation of all – our jealousy for God’s reputation. His good Name is fraudulently associated with death (when someone says “the Lord took so and so”) and damnation (asking God to damn this or that)! So, how will people come to know His true nature? How will they know that He is Love and Grace and Light and Life, that He doesn’t want any to perish, but all come to repentance? How will others know that He sent Jesus into the world, not to condemn it, but to save it?
In Romans 1:5, Paul declares his calling as an apostle was “for His Name’s sake.” 3 John verse 7 says “It was for the sake of the Name that they [the apostles] went out.”
You cannot pray the model prayer without implicating yourself to be involved in stronger witnessing. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name.” So, how will His Name be more revered and honored? How will His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven? One way: as more and more people come to saving faith in Him! And that will happen only as we strengthen our witness to the world.
