A Disciple Does The Will Of God

Pause:

Before you start reading this devotional, take a moment to stop what you’re doing, slow down, and focus on Jesus.

Pray and ask Him to open your eyes to see as you read the Scriptures, and to open your ears to hear as you wait on the leading of the Spirit.

Read:

Matthew 12:46-50: "While he was still speaking with the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” 48 He replied to the one who was speaking to him, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” 49 Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Going Deeper:

Like many American high school students, I did not have a clear sense of what I wanted to study in college. I decided to take a "safe" approach and study business because that was my dad's field and it worked out for him. Four years and a mountain of student loans later, I had a degree and entered the workforce with a groan as the Great Recession was getting underway. For eight years, I worked in the research department of a San Diego law firm that specialized in business lawsuits. My parents and I split the student loan payments after college.

During my time at the law firm, the degree and payments felt like they made sense. I was working in my field (or at least in the ballpark) and I think my parents were proud to have a son who (sort of) worked in law. You see, jobs in medicine, engineering, and the legal profession were highly prized in my culture growing up. To have a job in one of those fields was seen as a badge of honor. Would you like to guess as to what field was not typically seen as a badge of honor? Pastoral ministry. Can you guess where this is going?

During the second year I worked at the law firm, I became a follower of Jesus after many years of running from Him. Almost immediately, I sensed a call on my life to devote myself to the church. Over the next several years, I increasingly gave my time and energy to growing as a disciple and helping others to do the same. At one point, I even reduced my work hours so I could sit in during weekly Sunday sermon practice and other church meetings. In time, I was called on to eldership with Restored Uptown. My dream of pastoring came true.

As my time in the business world was drawing to a close, I remember having difficult conversations with my parents about my decision. They naturally wanted to see their substantial and sacrificial investment in my education lead to a career in business. I don't blame them as I was incredibly privileged throughout the entire educational process and I'm grateful to them. At that moment though I felt like God's call on my life came into direct conflict with what they desired for me. I had to choose.

At some point, all of us will feel the friction between what others want for our lives and what God wants for us. We may feel that pressure while making career decisions, or while pursuing a romantic relationship, or contemplating a home purchase, or facing any of the daily choices we have to make in this life. We often must choose between those things that reflect the priorities of the Kingdom of Heaven and those that reflect the kingdom of man.

Jesus Himself felt the pressure at the close of Matthew 12. He knows what it's like to feel pushed to do things. He also knows what it takes to rise above the pressure and make choices that please God the Father. It's hard for me to describe how often I have compromised my walk to secure people's approval. I take comfort in this text knowing that Jesus never did and because of Him I no longer have to compromise either. What's the key? Jesus lived not to secure his earthly family's approval but to fulfill the will of the Father. While His obedience caused friction in His earthly family, Jesus was not deprived of being part of a family.

Incredibly, you and I (sinners!) are Jesus' family. Through the death of Jesus, we've been set free from sin and death not to keep living for human approval but to do the will of the One who loved us so much that He sent His own Son to die for us. Human family members may feel like they have a claim on our lives, and we may indeed be indebted in some sense for all they've done for us, but our allegiance is to the Father who paid it all for us.

Is there an area of your life in which you feel conflicted between what you sense God wants and what someone else wants? I can't encourage you enough to share it with your community and ask them to pray.

May we together honor and please Him above all else because of His great mercies and love for us in Christ.

Pray:

Respond to God in prayer by speaking to Him about what stood out to you from this passage this morning.

Listen:

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you this morning? 

Apply:

What are you going to do in response to what God is saying to you from the text and by the Spirit?