Day 19 – Choices of the Will
Brother Lawrence said that “the actions of the understanding are very different from those of the will, for the former amounted to little, while the latter were everything. Only loving and rejoicing with God truly matter.”
Brother Lawrence elevates a heart that chooses to love God supremely over a mind that seeks understanding.
We may not find the same dichotomy between our will and our understanding. We can love God with all our heart and our mind.
Yet without the action of our will – a decision to follow Christ fully, a will to seek his face consistently, a choice to know God intimately – a Christianity that only remains in the head is not true Christianity.
Christianity with only a brain doesn’t profit much. Studying the Bible in depth, analyzing Greek and Hebrew words, understanding the historical, cultural, and literary backgrounds of the Bible – these feed the mind. They have an important place.
But without a change of heart, they don’t mean much. Head knowledge without heart transformation is not worth it. The truths of God’s Word must touch the will, move the will, alter the will.
Knowledge of the Bible or about God is not enough, nor is it satisfying. Paul declared, “I want to know Christ” (Philippians 3:10).
The will is the center of your decision making. You respond to God’s Word. You do what it says. You obey its truths. You do that one thing the Holy Spirit is prompting you to do.
Only then, along with Brother Lawrence, can you “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27). Only then can you say in rejoicing, “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11).
Getting there require choices of the will.
You choose to love God. You set your will to rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in God your Savior (Habakkuk 3:18).
Whether you feel like it or not. Whether your circumstances tell you otherwise. Whether your thoughts lead you in an opposite direction.
You exercise your will to point toward God. You press through distractions. You seek God’s face. You choose him! Your will brings you closer to God and he changes you.
Question: In what area do you need to make a choice of your will toward God, whether you feel like it or not?
This is God’s Word for you today,
Pastor Dave
