Do you have a "willing" heart? To have a "willing" heart you sometimes must have a "want to" attitude. I know that God has a calling on my life, but there are times that this calling requires me to press through a lot of negative things. I have a heart that desires to serve and please God but during the hard times, it requires a lot of "want to" from me. No matter what is going on around me in my life, I have to keep on keeping on!
By observing myself and other people, I have come to the conclusion that we end up doing what we want to do. If there is something we want to do strongly enough, somehow we will find a way to do it. If we "want to" we can lose weight, save money, get a better job, make it to a baseball or softball game, attend conferences, retreats, and even make it to church three times a week. How much 'want to' do you have right now? Let me first say that my 'want to' well is not as full as it has been but I know God replenishes those who seek living water. Sadly, I have seen many around me who have somehow allowed their 'want to' well to become almost dry. We have a habit of blaming others around us for the depletion of our 'want to'. We give excuses like "Things just aren't the same at church" or "I always volunteer to work during vacation bible school and the fall festival so let someone else do it this time" or "It feels like everyone is going in different directions and we are not unified".
I will boldly say that we can be going in different directions and still be unified. We can all have the same goal and achieve it in different ways. We can be in the same race for Christ but on different paths to reach the finish line. We can obtain unity while traveling in different directions to serve God. However, it will require a good bit of "want to" attitude from all of us! We need to sit down and do a 'want to' inventory in our lives. What we really need to do is be completely honest and say "Lord, I didn't volunteer to work during vacation bible school because I really didn't want to. I didn't go to bible study because I really didn't want to. I didn't pray or read and meditate on Your Word today because I really didn't want to. I didn't go to Sunday school or church on Sunday because I really didn't want to. Instead, I sat around the house watching tv, went shopping, went to watch a ballgame, went hunting or whatever - because that is what I wanted to do."
Now, there is nothing wrong with rest and entertainment, in fact I will encourage you to take time out with your family but we need to get our "want to's" in order! I am guilty of allowing my "want to" to get out of whack at times. Thankfully, God will always pull me back to my first love, the number one "want to" in my life...Him! If you and I are going to walk with and serve the Lord, then we must have willing hearts and 'want to' attitudes. And when we see ourselves or someone else getting out of order in these areas, we must hold each other accountable. Remember: God is not interested in our good works if we are not doing them with a willing heart! There will be times that we have to exercise discipline because we may not feel like doing something but if we have the 'want to' we will do it in Jesus name! It chills me to the bone and saddens me to think about how many times I have failed as a child of the King because I answered "I really don't want to." My hope and prayer for this message is that we would ALL be encouraged to get our 'want to' in line and get to moving for the Lord with willing hearts!
Lord, forgive me for not being the leader that you have called me to be at times. I pray that my 'want to' well would be filled until it overflows and affects others around me! Lord, let your sleeping giant rise in us that we would 'want to' do your works and catch all the demons by surprise! I pray that we would have willing hearts and want to attitudes that would become contagious to everyone around us. I pray that Your church will arise!!! Amen!
With a 'want to' attitude,
Tonya
No comments:
Post a Comment