Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to completely finish His work.—John 4:34
As followers of Jesus we are to “follow” His lead. Jesus here says NOTHING about His own will. The will of Jesus was to do the will of His Father in Heaven. Our mission is the same. It is not we who live but Christ who lives in us.
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.—Galatians 2:20
I am so grateful to Jesus for His completed work on the cross at Calvary. I am so thankful that I am no longer a slave to sin…a captive to my own flesh and to doing my own wayward will. I don’t know about you but nothing I do outside of the Spirit ever goes well for me. Truly, He has redeemed my life from destruction. Truly, His will for me is good. Here is the thing, though…despite knowing this, I still struggle mightily in my flesh and the closer I draw to Him the more my sin looms large in my sight.
Every moment of every day is a battle. My flesh believes that if I could just have this or control that, I would be happy. This scenario plays out in hundreds of different ways over the course every day. Some days I do better than others and on those days the truth becomes very clear. My joy is NOT found in getting what I want. That road is endless and gets darker and darker as I acquiesce to its incessant (and insistent) demands. My joy is found in the opposite direction. It is found in the laying down of my will. It is found when I pray and ask God to fulfill His perfect will in me. Then my path will be, as it says in Proverbs 4, like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.—Ephesians 2:10
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;—Philippians 1:6
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.—Philippians 2:5-8
