Are You Willing?

Are you willing? 

So many voices. So many teachers. But underneath all that din is a still, small voice that simply, yet continually calls out, “Are you willing?” I find it remarkable that at a time of great division among Jews, when many factions and movements had begun to splinter within Judaism, God sent one voice to them. Only one voice calling out in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord in men’s hearts. 

The voice calls out, “Are you willing to come out of your sin?” If your answer is yes, then you come out but you feel it necessary to cling to something for safety, and that life preserver is religion. It makes us feel righteous and safe. Then the Lord asks, “Are you willing to come out of your religion?” If your answer is yes, then you let go of your life preserver and turn inward. Your focus becomes your inner man as God begins to deal with you in the intimate place, bringing you to the full depths of comprehending how truly broken we are. Then the Lord asks the surprising and perplexing question, “Are you willing to come out from yourself?” And we realize that no matter what path we take, we will always arrive right back at the foot of the cross. 

Oh, the gentle, yet heart-piercing call of the Lord, “Come higher.” The respectful, yet agonizing if/then statements, “If you will…then you must.” Always calling, always drawing, always bringing us out of whatever place we have settled so that He may keep us at the foot of His cross. Always reminding us that to be right with God, we must believe in the One Whom He has sent, and then grow in knowledge and understanding of the fullness of what that actually means. 

And we only do so by answering the one, true voice He has sent and His continual call, “Are you willing? Are you willing to accept the cross?”

(John 6:26-29) Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.” Then they inquired, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”

(Acts 16:29-32) Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him along with all those in his house.

(John 10:27-30) My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one."

(Eph 4:4-6) There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.