Chapter 1 A Consecrated Life - Far Eastern Bible College

And so, we have very briefly covered the salient points on how we
may know God’s will. But the main focus of our message will not be on
that. Let us assume now that we already know what God’s will for us is
through the knowledge of His Word, through prayer and the use of these
questions. The more needful issue that we want to focus our attention on
now is the choice to do God’s will rather than our own will. This is the
more crucial and difficult part. It is no good to know God’s will if we do
not finally do it.
There is one passage of the book of Luke where we find three
persons who misunderstood what it means to submit themselves to
God’s will. In Luke 9:57–62:
And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain
man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou
goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of
the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his
head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord,
suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him,
Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the
kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow
thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home
at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his
hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of
God.
These three persons were perhaps just a few out of the many people
who were attracted to Jesus Christ. And many were attracted to Him
because He performed great miracles: enabling the blind to see, the
lame to walk, casting out demons. At the beginning of the same chapter
(Luke 9:12–17), Jesus had performed the miracle of feeding the 5,000.
These 5,000 people saw with their own eyes how He could multiply five
loaves and two fishes into enough food to feed them. Perhaps these
three persons were among those who had eaten some of the
miraculously multiplied food.
Now many people who experience these miracles would perhaps
have reacted by thinking, “If Jesus can do all these wonderful things
then surely He can meet all of my needs. If I want to benefit and gain
78 A Consecrated Life