How Can You Miss It, Christian?

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Peter, in his first letter, writes,

“For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men” (I Peter 2:15 – NKJV)

How often do we read in the New Testament letters about our God making it clear as to what He desires of us; making it clear as to what His purpose is for us; making it clear as to what He has called us for?

I don’t know if it is because we don’t read and study our Bibles enough or when we do read them we just choose to ignore the commands given to every disciple by Christ. But I seem to notice in our present day that profession and practice by those claiming to be believers does not seem to match up. Shouldn’t it be the disciple’s heart to strongly desire to do the desires, “the will of,” his Lord?

All too often I hear it inferred that, “I just don’t know what the will of the Lord is.”

I, personally, don’t react very well to a statement like this. My thought is, “How can you miss it Christian?” And then I tend to choose the path of displaying my irritable side . . . and respond rather harshly, and for that I need some prayer. But . . . God’s Word, if we are in it, leaves little doubt as to “what the will of the Lord is.” And if we are disciples of Christ, and that is what a Christian is, we should be spot-on for knowing God’s “will.”

Maybe this is it! Maybe, when it comes right down to the matter, we aren’t really His disciples! Maybe when we are called to “do good” by the Lord and He makes His “will” very clear . . . we actually find out that we don’t want to do His “will.”

If that be the case, self-examination by a professing Christian is a very good thing (cf. II Corinthians 13:5). For I say without hesitation, the Lord’s “will” should be exactly what we desire. Again, if not, there is a problem.

Let me make this simple point here. I would say, that from our text, part of this “doing good” would be giving thanks to “God” for our food. No matter whether it be at home or at a local eating establishment, we bow our heads and acknowledge “God’s” provision, actually giving evidence of our discipleship. Interesting enough from our text, when we do just this one thing, it strikes at “the ignorance” of “men.” It actually reveals their “foolishness.” And this is what “God” desires for us, His people, to do.

Poll after poll and so-called claim after claim is made and serves to tell us that a very large number of people in America believe in “God.” Many go to churches every week. Yet I am hard pressed to find, and believe me I make a point of noticing, even a few that in a public restaurant bow their heads and thank “God” for His provision. The practice of “doing” this “good” thing is, I’m sorry to say, a rare sight. Just this one act of “doing good,” one of many that true disciples desire to carry out, serves “God’s will,” and serves it in “putting to silence the ignorance of foolish men.”

If you are of the mind that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ and yet you find yourself vague on what He wants evident in your life . . . go to the Scriptures! Read and study them! And you will know what the “will of God” is for you! Then go . . . and do it! That’s what disciples of Christ desire to do . . . “the will of God.”