Jesus gives us an example of how to live a life Solomon is describing. As you observe the life of Jesus you see this text consistently exemplified. If there was anyone in the history of the planet that was qualified to be in control it was Jesus. After all He is God. But one of the most interesting parts of the Incarnation is that when Jesus became human He gave up control. He was still God but He entrusted control of His life to His Father. From a young age, Jesus recognized that His life was not to be lived on His terms but as the Father revealed it. At the age of twelve, after Mary and Joseph searched and finally found Him in the Temple, Jesus asked his parents ““Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49)
It was the Father’s timing that led Jesus to ministry after spending much of his adult life in the carpenter’s shop. And even as He began His ministry he recognized it was His Father’s timing not His that would herald the culmination of His ministry: “my hour is not yet come.” (John 2:4).
For the next three and a half years Jesus was never hurried or harried. Everything He did He did everything on His Father's’ time and in His Father’s way. Time and time again He told those around him: "38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. (John 6:38). Jesus trusted His Heavenly Father with all His heart. Jesus was facing doubt in Gethsemane with Calvary on the horizon and prayed “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42). On the cross, when He wondered if His Father had forsaken Him and He could not “see through the portals of the tomb” (E.G. White, The Desire of Ages, 723). He still was able to say, “Father into Your hands I commit my Spirit.” (Luke 22:46). Every moment of everyday of His life on earth, Jesus trusted His Heavenly Father with all of His heart.
There was no sense in the life of Jesus that He was the “master of his own soul.” Time and time again Scripture records Him saying, “I have come to do the will of the One who sent Me.” He did not direct His own path. He did not go where He wanted to go only where the Father wanted Him to go, even to the cross. It was not Jesus’ agenda, but it was His Father’s agenda for His life.
One place we see Jesus returning to consistently is away from the disciples, away from all the distractions quietly spending time “acknowledging” His Father. Everyday Jesus grew closer and closer to His Father through communion with Him. Because of this daily practice, the will of His Father became the will of Jesus. What was the result? The result was a ministry which accomplished the mission that Jesus was sent to fulfill. Was it easy? Of course not. Jesus faced trials, tribulations and temptations all along the way. However, He was faithful because He lived out those words of Solomon, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT). And we can too.
Conversation:
- When do you spend your time with God as Jesus did?
Recommended Book
Thousands have become acquainted with Jesus through this little book, Steps to Christ. And it has helped many more, including those who have walked with Him for years, to know Him better.
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