Jesus Was Willing. Are You? by Miriam

“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8 (NLT)

During the month of December, in my daily time with the Lord, I’ve been reading Come, Let Us Adore Him by Paul David Tripp. On day two of this advent devotional he said, “Jesus knew he had to come not just to preach the gospel of sacrifice, but also to be that sacrifice, yet he was perfectly willing.”

Think about that for a minute. You know, we often forget the real reason Jesus came and what it actually means when we get caught up in all the fun and joy that celebrating Christmas brings. I know I do. We should celebrate — it was a glorious day when Jesus came to this earth. He left His home in heaven to take on human form and to ultimately sacrifice His life so we could have eternal life (John 3:16-17).

It’s important that we remember Jesus knew the end to the story before He left heaven and He was still willing to come in humble obedience to God. While Jesus was willing, we are often so unwilling aren’t we? Dr. Tripp goes on to say that “one of the dark character qualities of sin that we don’t recognize as much as we should is unwillingness.” He says, “we’re often unwilling to do what God says if it doesn’t make sense to us. We’re often unwilling to inconvenience ourselves for the needs of someone else. We’re regularly unwilling to wait. We’re often unwilling to be open and honest. We’re too often unwilling to consider the loving rebuke of another. We struggle to be willing to say no to our own wrong thoughts and desires. We often struggle to be willing to answer God’s ministry call. Often we are unwilling to admit that we are wrong. Too often we struggle to serve willingly and to give generously. Unwillingness is one of sin’s powerful damaging results.”

I don’t know about you, but every time I read that quote I think of the number of times in my marriage, as a parent, daughter, sister or friend that I’ve been unwilling to do something I should have. Or maybe I did it, but with an attitude that was anything but humble, obedient, and willing. Several years ago, my grandchildren came over so we could make Christmas cookies. After cutting out several, the children got tired and wanted to play. At one point I went into the playroom and told them to please pick up the crayons that were all over the floor since they weren’t playing with them any more and so the crayons wouldn’t get stepped on. One of my granddaughters said, “I won’t step on them.” It was her way of letting me know she was unwilling to stop what she was doing and pick them up. She was four at the time. We learn very early about what we are willing to do and what we not willing to do. 

Dr. Tripp says this is what the Christmas story is all about, “a willing Savior is born to rescue unwilling people from themselves because there is no other way.” I’m so grateful Jesus was willing to come to this earth and ultimately die for me and for you. My prayer this Christmas and in the year ahead is the Holy Spirit will convict me quickly of the sin of unwillingness, and I will be willing to do whatever the Lord asks of me. I’m praying I will have a humble, obedient, and willing heart. What about you?