Yesterday I was preparing a message for May 20th…and in doing so began reading in John chapter two when Jesus changed the water into wine. (Popular miracle with some…not so much with others.)
Anyway, if you’ve read the story then you understand…Jesus and His disciples are hanging out at a wedding (so much for Him being boring) and the celebration is going great…until…they run out of wine. Now in this culture and time period…this is BAD, REALLY BAD…and Jesus’ mom comes to Him and asks Him to help out.
Some servants are evidently standing near Jesus and she turns and looks at them and says one of THE single most profound statements in Scripture…
“His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever He tells you.’” (John 2:5)
STOP for a minute! She didn’t say, “Oh wow, we have a problem—hey servants, SIT here and sing songs to Jesus for an hour, if that doesn’t work then use the prayer of Jabez to try and manipulate Him, and then if that isn’t doing the trick then here are some verses I heard from a TV preacher that will unlock the secrets of blessing…”
Nope…she said DO—WHATEVER—HE—TELLS—YOU! In other words—He’s going to tell you what to do and then you are going to need to take action. Yes, He is capable of handing the situation…but He is going to handle it through your willingness to obey Him and take a risk!
One of the greatest tragedies in Christianity today is that too many Christians are sitting around “waiting on God,” when in actuality they are using excuses such as, “Well, I’m praying about it,” and, “I don’t want to get ahead of God.” What I have discovered is that MOST of the time these are excuses for laziness, fear and a lack of faith.
Christians DO NOT need another Bible study…another book…another seminar…most of us need to simply just do what we know we should do…that desire inside of us that we know is from Him!
Bottom line—do whatever He tells you.
Is there an area in your life that you need to do whatever He tells you to do…maybe…
- You need to forgive someone
- You need to have that tough conversation
- You need to begin to worship God with your money
- You need to invite that person to church
- You need to start a church
- You need to give something away
- You need to admit your addiction
- You need to spend more time with your family
Do whatever He tells you!
Many times it is not that we don’t know what to do—its just that we don’t want to do what we know we should!
I wrestle with this just as much as anyone else. There are times when I feel the Lord speak straight to my heart…and I argue, rebel…and even at times try to bargain with Him…but life is so much better when I just do whatever he tells me to do.
Uh, speaking of things getting better…once the servants obeyed Jesus…things got a lot better at the wedding. Jesus never screws anything up—EVER!
Do whatever He tells you!
One more thing—as the pastor of this church I do my best to listen to the Lord—this is HIS church and I want to do whatever He tells me! Folks…what God has in store for NewSpring…the steps we are going to take over the next several years…let’s just say that the Upstate of South Carolina is going to be shaken…lives are going to be changed…and His kingdom is going to advance in a way that none of us have ever seen! Our best days are ahead…
Do whatever He tell you!