WILLING AND OBEDIENT

Isaiah 1:19, 20 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land: But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

I find the order of words in today’s text particularly interesting: ‘if you are willing and obedient’. Why this specific sequence? Why was the will
placed before obedience?

If there is something we woould know about God, it is the fact that He remains a gentleman where the will of man is concerned. Unless a man has granted him express permission to override this will, He can only go so far. Such that even when He stands at the door of the heart, the heart of the creature He has fashioned, He can only knock and expect a response from the inside.

Even today, when He had come with a whole bag of goodies, He had to let the will make a choice – if you are willing to let me be your God, to let me stay ahead of you, if you are willing to let me be your guide, then you will enjoy the good of the land. Obedience is apparently missing because where the will is surrendered, obedience is an outcome that will become evident.

So here is the drill: the desires and the will of man are key when it comes to His relationship with God and until this will is surrendered to the majesty of God, the very best of God still remains far fetched.

#sly