I Delight to Do God's Will

“In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

    but you have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering

    you have not required.

Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come;

    in the scroll of the book it is written of me:

I delight to do your will, O my God;

    your law is within my heart.’” (Psalms 40:6-8 ESV)

And we read this in Hebrews 10:5-7 (ESV):

“Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,

    but a body have you prepared for me;

in burnt offerings and sin offerings

    you have taken no pleasure.

Then I said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,

    as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.”’”

And we read this in 1 Samuel 15:22 (ESV):

“And Samuel said, ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.’”

So, what is the message for us from these passages of Scripture today? I believe it is this, that we can go through the motions of religious practice, sacrificing our time and efforts and passions on forms of religion, but our hearts can still be far from God. We can be faithful at attending weekly gatherings of the church (or of the false church), in doing good deeds, in reading our Bibles (or a daily devotional), in praying before meals, and in singing worship songs, and still not truly worship God in spirit and in truth.

For God is not interested in our religious practices if our lives are not surrendered to him to do his will. He wants our obedience. He wants us living in submission to his will and purpose for our lives, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his power. For his true sheep are those who listen to him (who heed his words) and who follow him in obedience (in compliance to his will). If we are to follow Jesus with our lives we are to deny self, die daily to sin, and obey his commandments (New Covenant).

For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross, not just to forgive us our sins, and not just so that we can go to heaven when we die, but so that, by genuine God-persuaded faith in him we will die with him to sin daily and walk (in conduct, in practice) in obedience (submission) to his will and to his commandments. And the Scriptures teach us that if we continue in habitual and deliberate sin, making sin our practice, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, that we do not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God.

So, to obey or to not obey our Lord is not optional for the life of a true follower of Jesus Christ. For we are not saved from our sins and on our way to heaven based on lip service to God alone. We cannot just make a profession of Christ as Lord and Savior and now all our sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed us when we die. Many people professing faith in Jesus Christ with their lips, whose lives are not surrendered to the Lord to do his will, will not enter into the kingdom of heaven because they didn’t obey God.

And to do the will of the Lord is not just about us ceasing to make sin our practice and to now follow the Lord in obedience to his commands. But it is a life of surrender to the Lord, making him truly master of our lives. And it is about following his leading in our lives wherever he has us doing whatever he has called us all collectively and individually to do. It means he now is Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, and we are now his possession, and our will is to do whatever it is that he calls us to do, by his grace.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

“I have told the glad news of deliverance

    in the great congregation;

behold, I have not restrained my lips,

    as you know, O Lord.

I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;

    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;

I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness

    from the great congregation.” (Psalms 40:9-10 ESV)

And one of the assignments our Lord has given all of his followers to do is to take the message of the gospel of our salvation to the ends of the earth. For he has given each one of us, who are his true followers, spiritual gifts and spiritual assignments (our body parts) within the body of Christ, his church. And he has called us to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, and to be the light and the salt of the earth, and to be his witnesses and to make disciples of Christ of people.

And we are to be those who are speaking the truth in love, one to the other, so that none of us are led astray by people who are cunning, crafty, and deceitful in spreading false gospel messages, and so that we are all able to grow together to maturity in Christ, as each body part is working properly. And we are to be teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, stirring up one another to love and good works, and exhorting one another daily so that no one may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

And none of this is to be taken as optional, or that it is only for the “professionals” to do. But the gospel message that we share with others needs to be the one that Jesus and his NT apostles taught, when taught within the correct biblical context, and not out of context and made to say what is not the truth. And that gospel message is that Jesus died on that cross so that, by faith in him, we will die to sin and walk in obedience to his commands, by the grace of God, and in his power, strength, and wisdom.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6; Jude 1:22-23]  

Should I Not Preach Jesus 

An Original Work / July 4, 2013

Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13

Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.

I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.

I make myself a slave to ev’ryone

To win their hearts to Christ.

All this I do for my Lord Jesus,

And for the sake of His Name;

Do it for the sake of His gospel,

So that I, its blessings gain.

Scripture notates the sins of others;

Written down for us as examples

To keep us from setting our hearts 

On evil as did those of old.

Do not worship other gods of man;

Do not give your hearts to them;

Not partake in immorality.

Do not test your Lord and King.

So, be careful if you think you are

Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.

God has given his word to warn us, 

So through faith we will not fall.

No temptation has o’ertaken you

Except what is commonplace.

God is faithful to not let you be

Tempted past what you can bear.

He gives the way of escape. 

https://vimeo.com/116057811