I Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication.
Wouldn’t it be great if you knew God’s opinion about your future? It would be great to know if you should take that job! It would be wonderful to know whether you should move or stay where you are. It would be good to know whether or not you should marry that person. Wouldn’t it be great if you knew God’s wish or will for your life? That would be wonderful!
You know, God’s will is not made difficult primarily by a lack of knowledge. It is made difficult primarily by a lack of willingness. We do the will of God when we do what is right, when we do what pleases God. I Thessalonians says it this way, “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication.” Verse 7 says, “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.” So, what is God’s call and will? It is for me to live a life that is morally pure and clean. That is God’s will.
It is God’s will that I be saved. God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” It is God’s will for me as a believer that I follow the Lord in believer’s baptism. That is just a basic step of obedience. It is God’s will that I be grateful. I Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God.” In short, God’s will is not so much something I seek as it is something I do.
Now hear what I am saying, not what I’m not saying. We should seek God’s will. We should want to know God’s wish for our future. But, more often than not, our problem is that we are not doing what we know we should do right now. A rebel can’t find God’s will for the same reason a thief can’t find a policeman.
So, what is God’s will? God’s will is now. “For this is the will of God.” If God knows best, why wait for the future before I start doing what I should do. The most important part of God’s will is today because it is all you’ve got. God’s will is now.
God’s will is here. In verse 1 Paul says, “Ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God.” God’s emphasis here is not where you should walk or end up, but how you should walk. Now, where we end up is important, but where we end up is completely a function of how we are walking now. Where we go is a function of how we live.
Then, God’s will is clear. The issue is not so much God’s will as it is our willingness. I am not willing to do God’s will later if I don’t do what I know to be God’s command right now. He says, “For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.” Too many of us are waiting for some angelic messenger when we have already got a message, God’s Word.
So, you can know God’s will for your future, but that begins by doing what you know to be right today.