While I was standing in line at a theater with my community
pastor, I overheard a guy ask his friend with some disgust, “Why
would people follow God’s will?” He was a young guy in his
early twenties and he expressed that he had dreams and desires of his
own to follow. He said that doing God’s will would make him feel
like an automaton. Then he said, “I don’t think God made
us to be mindless robots.”
Life is about chasing dreams, isn’t it? Without dreams, life
is stagnant with no movement towards something worth achieving. In the
end, it’s the dreams that we chase that define us. But would it
be an odd concept to follow someone else’s dreams? Why would anyone
follow God’s will and not his own? I think we pursue after something
when we find extraordinary worth in it and when we’re inspired
to pursue it. I follow God’s will because He is my king and Lord
and infinitely worthy of my faithfulness. Following God’s will
is first an interpersonal matter before it is a practical one, because
in order to see God’s will is worth following we have to know that
God Himself is worth following. Do I know His perfection, beauty, and
majesty? While His worthiness is the reason, His love is the inspiration.
1 Corinthians 5:14-15 reads, “For Christ’s love compels us… And
he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves
but for him…” Living for God is a result of being loved by
Him. It’s His love poured over me through Christ that captures
my heart and invigorates me to live for the object of my affection, so
that to live for Him becomes more than a choice but an uncanny drive.
The question of why we live is intertwined with how we’ve been
loved. In the context of this love God says to those who follow Him, “Well
done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness” (Matt.
25:23). The God who invites me to share His will also invites me to share
His joy. So, I think the practical question of should we pursue our dreams
or God’s dreams is preceded by the interpersonal questions of whether
we’ve known Him and known His love. |
