Discovering God's Will - Part 3

Okay, one last time with Romans 12:1-2. I hope I don’t lose you with my ramblings, because this is good stuff, I am just not sure that I can explain it well!!!

Over the last two days we have seen that future revelation begins with obedience to past revelation. Obedience to past revelation changes the way that we live in a broken world. A change in the way that we live in a broken world leads to a change in how we think about life that God has given us. This leads us to the last part of the passage:

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Did you see what Paul just told us? If we will become obedient to past revelation then it will change the way that we think about the commands of God and THEN we will be able to test His will. But how do we know if it passes the test? Because it will seem good, pleasing and perfect to us! In other words, if you are obedient to the revelation of God’s will then your perspective of the world will be so conformed to God’s standard that living in His will is instinctive because we are doing what just seems best and most pleasing to us.

This point is driven home in Psalm 37:4 (NIV)
4 Delight yourself in the Lord
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Paul and the Psalmist have just said the same thing! The Psalmist says that if we will delight ourselves in God above all things (exemplified in our obedience to Him) then He will give us the desires of our heart. The reason that this statement is always true is that if I am delighting in God above all others then HIS desires BECOME my desires and God always does what He most desires!

So take it back to Romans. If I am obedient to past revelation (this is delighting myself in the Lord) then I am transformed in my thinking so that I think like He thinks and see the world the way He sees it. So now I want what He wants and I despise what He despises and it seems like doing that which is most holy and righteous is just the no-brainer thing to do. In fact it seems like the only good, pleasing and perfect thing to do!!

So could it be that if I am unsure of what to do it is because of disobedience? Could it be that the desires of my heart prove the condition of my heart? Could it be that I do not need to worry about whether I am capable of being obedient tomorrow because my obedience today assures me of God’s provision? Could it be that the key to worry free living and good pleasing and perfect lives all begins with a simple commitment to become obedient to the will of God that has already been revealed to me?

Lord, I want to delight myself in you by obeying you! I want to be transformed in every area of my life so that to walk in your will is just instinctive and pleasant! Lord you alone satisfy the deep desires of my heart!