THURSDAY December 12, 2019
Delighting in Doing God’s Will
“Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”
Luke 1:36-38
The angel Gabriel greatly encouraged Mary; the Lord had already been at work in the life of her relative Elizabeth. She had been barren, and yet God did the impossible; miraculously, she conceived a child. God did something far greater, in the life of Mary. As a virgin, she would carry the Son of God in her womb.
Mary, moved by faith, willingly agreed to be used by the Lord and voiced her full submission to God’s plan. Mary’s reaction to the angel’s words revealed her heart of faith, which was very different from Zacharias the priest. When he was told by the angel Gabriel that Elizabeth was to have a child, he questioned the possibility, thinking they were too old to have children. Zacharias was rebuked by the angel for his unbelief, but Mary, by faith, was delighted to do the will of God.
In Psalm 40:8, David expressed his attitude towards doing the will of God. He wrote: I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart. This Psalm was also prophetic; it spoke of Christ and His willingness to do His Father’s will. Jesus said to the people who followed Him: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38). What was the Father’s perfect will in the life of Christ? He was to die for the sins of the world (John 3:16), to give salvation to anyone who believed in Him.
Do you delight in doing the will of God?
God hates sin and can never look with pleasure upon iniquity, but where men seek to do God's will He responds in genuine affection.
~A.W. Tozer~
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