Today's Scripture
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: Judges 16-18; John 5:25-47
God’s will, not mine – John 5:30-47
30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. 33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.
39 “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 41 I do not accept glory from human beings. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God in[a] you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
What does this passage mean to me/us?
‘Am I doing this for God’s will or mine?’ This question is a difficult question to answer. How can we have confidence like Jesus, who says, “As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” He exemplifies such confidence on following God’s will.
The answer is simple, but at the same time, challenging. Jesus opens the previous statement by saying, “I can do nothing on my own.”
Jesus had the power to do and work on his own. He was God himself.
At the same time, he acknowledged that all that he did was only possible through the relationship he had with God. His deep connection with God was the source of his power.
How can we live this day acknowledging and knowing that we cannot do anything without God? Through the deep connection with God, we may one day say, ‘I’m truly following the way of whom sent me.’
Prayer
Lord, help us to see your work moving in our lives. Help us to see your invitation to be part of your work. In Christ name we pray, Amen.
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