Are You Willing?

                                 

I recently had lunch with a good friend, and we were discussing faith and the difficulty of living a righteous life. The Webster definition of righteous says, “acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin.” Now the first part of Webster’s definition, I might be able to do, but that “free from guilt or sin” part seems pretty impossible. If I am trying to live that way on my own, it is pretty much impossible. You may ask, “Robby, why would you even want to try something that is impossible?” My answer is that I like what the Bible says about the righteous. There are many verses about the righteous, but some of my favorites come from Psalm chapter 34: “The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry” (Psalm 34:15 NIV). “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles” (17). “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all” (19). Having the Lord’s ear, and being delivered from all my troubles is pretty appealing to me.

In our conversation, my friend asked, “Why doesn’t the Lord just make me not sin, or even not to be tempted by sin?” This is a good question to think about. This would make living a “righteous life” a lot easier for us, wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t things be a lot easier for us if we had no enemy, and victorious living was just given to us? I say there is some value in being able to choose to serve the Lord. Serving Him because I am willing makes me a much better example for those watching me than it would if I had no choice. The Bible says, “Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers- not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2-3). The Bible verse says God wants me to be willing.

In my Bible studies this week, something new stood out to me. I’ve read this chapter many times before, but this time a repeated phrase grabbed my attention and thoughts. It comes from chapter 35 in the Book of Exodus. God is giving instructions to Moses about building a “Tent of Meeting” (Tabernacle) for the dwelling place of God while He leads the Israelites to The Promise Land. In His instructions, He tells Moses how to get the people involved in the construction.  What is interesting to me is the fact that all of the Israelites were witnesses to many miracles of God, like the parting of the Red Sea, but not all were willing to serve Him. It is apparent to me from this very early historic record of God’s revelation that our willingness to serve Him is important. The Lord could have said to Moses, “In order to worship Me because I have delivered them from their troubles, the people WILL bring offerings to build a Tabernacle.” He certainly had the power to demand they all line up like robots with gifts of goods and services, but He did not do this. Instead, God said to Moses, “From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the LORD an offering…” (Exodus 35:5). The Lord only asked for offerings from those who were willing. Are you willing?

Before you think that the Scripture above is only about giving money towards the Lord’s work, let me continue the story: In Exodus chapter 35 the Bible uses the word “willing” five times. This repetition certainly caught my attention; do you think that there is something important to be learned about being willing? The story goes on to explain that after Moses instructed the people about how the Tabernacle was to be built, only the people who were willing to serve the Lord returned for the work. The Bible says, “Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses' presence, and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments” (Exodus 35:20-21). “And all the women who were willing and had the skill spun the goat hair” (v. 26). I must tell you, I have to think about that phrase in verse 21, “everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came. . .” This is a clear indication of God’s calling to service, but one must be willing first. Why wouldn’t the Lord just make all those chosen people of God bring gifts, and work on the construction of the Tabernacle? I take you back now to my friend’s question: “Why doesn’t the Lord just make me not sin, or even not to be tempted by sin?” The Bible says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). So I ask: If the Lord will not allow us to be tempted beyond  what we can say no to, and He always provides a way out of the temptation, what is our part? Are we willing?

In my reference to 1 Peter 5:2-3 above, the Bible speaks about our willingness to serve, not because we must, but to be examples for those that are watching us. Do you know as a believer- you have someone watching you? It may be your friend, it may be your co-worker, it may be your relative, or it may be your spouse or child, but someone is watching you play in this game of life as a believer. Those who personally know me are watching me. As a believer, if I had no opposition, no trials in my life, no temptations of sin, would anyone really care about watching me? I wouldn’t be much of an example to watch. I wouldn’t be much of an example to encourage you in your walk with the Lord if I didn’t have opposition in my walk. If that were the case, you may just think, “Robby, you write nice lessons, but you just don’t understand what I’m going through.” But I assure you that I have opposition in my life.

I think back to my high school days when I played on the basketball team. During the games, we would have large crowds come out to cheer us on. We would prepare for the opposition during the week in preparation for the real game. If we didn’t prepare and know the schemes of our opponent, the enemy would just defeat us from the get go. I can remember playing against guys who were much taller than I, and the difficulty that I encountered to score goals against them. But when I did fake an opponent out, and scored over him, the crowd would cheer my moment of victory. The witnesses appreciated the skill it took to score against a tough opponent. They appreciated the fact that I was willing to practice in preparation of the game against the enemy.

Now, did they come just to watch me score points? If that were the case, I could have asked my friends and family to just hang around after the game. I could really put on a demonstration of scoring baskets if no one was guarding me (I had no opposition). No one would be interested in watching me shoot baskets if I had no opposition. In the same manner, no one would be interested in reading my lessons if I were not willing to live a life in service to the Lord in the midst of a tough opponent. It is only through my relationship with Jesus that I can be willing to live a life of righteousness, and only through Him that I can have the power to be willing to say no to the temptation of the enemy. The Bible says, “so also through the obedience of the one man (Jesus) the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

I mentioned that someone is watching you. Like me, your family and friends are watching your willingness to serve and obey the Lord in the midst of your opposition. Just like my example of a basketball game, the tougher the opposition is, the more they will be watching. In the same manner, the tougher the trial that you are up against, the greater impact your willing faith will demonstrate to others. Many of you are playing against Satan’s “Dream Team” in your game today, when I feel that in comparison I’m playing against the Happy Valley Middle School team. I received an e-mail this week from an old high school friend that I have not seen in over 35 years. In her e-mail, she described the opposition that she was up against. The opponent was so strong that Satan was pulling some of her family members toward his team. But I was strongly encouraged by her willingness to keep playing against this formidable opponent. She called a “timeout” and asked me to play as a substitute to help. (She sent me a prayer request.) I am honored to stand in the gap with her. I called on the One who has already played and defeated this opponent. The Bible says, “That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to him and never stop trusting him.  This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it" (Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT). Through Jesus, she will receive His mercy, and she will find His grace to help her since she is willing to seek Him. Are you willing?

I pray that you are willing. If you are struggling with your willingness to obey and serve, ask the Lord Jesus to help you. He will be willing to help you if you seek Him with a humbled heart. There is a story in the Bible where a man came to Jesus and asked Him to be willing to help: “While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him” (Luke 5:12-13 NIV). I like to hear that answer from Jesus when I ask in my prayers to be delivered from my troubles. (Remember Psalm 34:15 from above.) I will close with another repeated phrase found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke of the New Living Translation Bible. This phrase concerning obeying His teachings is repeated by Jesus seven times: “Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!” (Matthew 11:15, 13:9,43, Mark 4:9,23, Luke 8:8, 14:35). Be willing to listen and understand your calling for service to the Lord. Be willing to be an example to those watching, and say no to temptation. Why? “And when the head Shepherd comes, your reward will be a never-ending share in his glory and honor” (1 Peter 5:4 NIV). Never-ending share…I like that! Your trials and struggles may be terribly tough now, but stay willing in the battle. One day, your reward will be a never-ending share in His glory and honor, and that’s A Good Word.

Robby

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