Monday, March 27, 2006
When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem….but the people would not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. Luke 9:51-53
Jesus discerned His Father’s will to go to Jerusalem and complete the events before him. Jesus understood the Lord’s will because He was in perfect unity with God the Father. Still He faced the same anxiety we face when presented with decisions between our will and God’s will. As Jesus set His face to follow God’s will in submission to the events of Holy Week, He faced questioning and opposition from others. The disciples didn’t want Jesus to endure the agony of crucifixion. They didn’t want to see Him suffer. They didn’t want to lose their friend. The Samaritans were uncharitable to Jesus because he recognized Jerusalem as the Holy City, not their appropriate location for the Passover Feast. The Samaritans didn’t agree with His religious beliefs.
How often do we face these same issues? We have friends who don’t want us to follow the Lord’s will and lead us into temptation or we also may be the friend leading others astray. There are those who oppose our religious beliefs and try to dissuade us from walking in the ways prepared for us by taunts, torment or tirade. Besides there is the matter of discerning God’s plan and will for us. Jesus lived a perfect life and was in constant unity with the Father. We need to strive very hard to be in unity with His will even a small part of the time. What of the times when we are convinced we are right and in fact we are dead wrong, walking in opposition to the Lord’s will. It is harder to listen to Christian friends then. Can we hear them at all?
What help is there? We only need to look to Jesus’ life and seek to emulate Him. He used prayer and meditation to know His Father’s will. He knew and frequently quoted scripture. He associated with fellow seekers of the Way! A favorite quote of mine is the 11th step from AA which says, “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power (Spirit) to carry that out.” To put God’s power to work in our lives, we need to seek Him in regular prayer and listen for His guidance daily.
May we set our faces towards Jerusalem and seek His will!
Jesus discerned His Father’s will to go to Jerusalem and complete the events before him. Jesus understood the Lord’s will because He was in perfect unity with God the Father. Still He faced the same anxiety we face when presented with decisions between our will and God’s will. As Jesus set His face to follow God’s will in submission to the events of Holy Week, He faced questioning and opposition from others. The disciples didn’t want Jesus to endure the agony of crucifixion. They didn’t want to see Him suffer. They didn’t want to lose their friend. The Samaritans were uncharitable to Jesus because he recognized Jerusalem as the Holy City, not their appropriate location for the Passover Feast. The Samaritans didn’t agree with His religious beliefs.
How often do we face these same issues? We have friends who don’t want us to follow the Lord’s will and lead us into temptation or we also may be the friend leading others astray. There are those who oppose our religious beliefs and try to dissuade us from walking in the ways prepared for us by taunts, torment or tirade. Besides there is the matter of discerning God’s plan and will for us. Jesus lived a perfect life and was in constant unity with the Father. We need to strive very hard to be in unity with His will even a small part of the time. What of the times when we are convinced we are right and in fact we are dead wrong, walking in opposition to the Lord’s will. It is harder to listen to Christian friends then. Can we hear them at all?
What help is there? We only need to look to Jesus’ life and seek to emulate Him. He used prayer and meditation to know His Father’s will. He knew and frequently quoted scripture. He associated with fellow seekers of the Way! A favorite quote of mine is the 11th step from AA which says, “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power (Spirit) to carry that out.” To put God’s power to work in our lives, we need to seek Him in regular prayer and listen for His guidance daily.
May we set our faces towards Jerusalem and seek His will!
