WILLING AND OBEDIENT

WILLING AND OBEDIENT

Isaiah 1:19 says, " If you are willing and obedient, then you will eat the best of the Land."

A young boy was acting up and his dad told him to sit down. The boy was very defiant and the dad had to repeat himself, "sit down!" The boy sat down with his arms folded said, “ I might be sitting down on the outside, but I am still standing up on the inside!”

There is a real difference between being obedient, and being willing and obedient. This becomes a real problem when we are dealing with God. I might be obedient to him, but am I also willing to do what God ask me to do?

A good example of this is in our giving. 2 Corinthians 9:7 (NAS) says, (concerning giving) "each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly, or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." It is more important to God to be a willing giver, than to just give because you are feeling compelled to.

How do we develop a willing and obedient heart? I want to answer this question by taking a look at a
disciple name Ananias, who lived in the city of Damascus, in Acts chapter nine. The Lord told him to go to a man's house named Judas who lived on Straight Street. He was to ask for a man named Saul from the city of Tarsus. Ananias knew that Saul had done many evil things to the Believers in Jerusalem and ask the Lord if he was hearing Him right. The Lord reassured him that it was true. Ananias became a willing and obedient servant resulting in Saul receiving healing, physically, and spiritually. Saul's name was changed to Paul.(Tiny) Paul then went on to become a apostles to the whole non Jewish world.

I want to pose one more question. Why was Ananias a willing and obedient servant? I believe that the simple fact that the Holy Spirit came to him says a lot about Ananias. He must have had a very close relationship with God to not only be obedient to the Lord, but to also be willing to do it.

The secret to developing a willing and obedient heart is to have a close relationship with God.
This means spending time in communion with Him. Communion embraces many things such as prayer, worship, the Word of God, and learning how to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Father we want to be obedient to your will, but we also want to be willing also. We realize that it has been our lack communion with the Holy Spirit that causes us not to be willing. We now understand that as we come to know the Holy Spirit, then we will begin to trust him,then we we begin to be willing and obedient . In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.