“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’“
‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
The thought that crossed my mind is how many Christians sit in church every week listening to powerful and theologically sound sermons learning who God is and what He wants and how to please Him and how we ought to think and how we ought to live. All across America (and probably the world) churches are becoming like seminaries. Never before in history has the Word of God been more accessible and better taught. And yet, we are spiritually dead and dying.
Churches are full of people who know doctrine and theology (and will argue it incessantly), and at the same time live with no transformation, no joy, no power, no fruit of any sort. Something is radically wrong. Jesus says what.
Knowing the will of Father and doing the will of Father are completely different things. In another place, Jesus said, "You are my friends if you do what I command." It is not just about knowing what God says or even hearing what God says -it is about living and doing what God says. This is the Kingdom!
Here is the biggest rub: we cannot do what He says until we surrender. We cannot accomplish His agenda and our own at the same time. It can't be done. Here is what Father wants: children who are willing to hear what He says and willing to live it out in real life.
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