What Shall We Do

Luke 3:10: And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?

Acts 2:37-38: Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 9:6: And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Acts 16:30b-34: . . . Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

Those questions reflect the attitude unbelievers need. It reflects first of all the fact that until He reveals it to us, we don*t know what the Lord wants us to do. When we ask the question sincerely, we realize that God knows something that we don*t know and that we need to know it. It is the moment when we can stop believing in ourselves and we begin believing in God. When we obey what He tells us without holding anything back, it is the beginning of faith in God. When some individuals ask the question they fully intend to do whatever He tells them. That is faith.

Proverbs 3:5: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

When some individuals ask the question, they have limits on how far they will go for the Lord. They have faith in their own opinion, and not in God*s. They want to do what they want, not what God wants. They want God to fit His plans into their plans. They want God to do things their way.

Mark 10:17-22: And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. 19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. 21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. 22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

The young man was eager to fit the Good Master into his plans. He came running. He knew that all the good things he had done in the past were insufficient to get him eternal life. He wanted to keep everything that he had already, his good deeds and his possessions. He wanted to add eternal life to what he already had. He thought eternal life would just be a little addition to what he already had. When he called Jesus Good Master it did not reflect true humility. The passage said specifically that Jesus loved him. The significance of that love went right over his head. He did not know that he was refusing the thing he needed most, the love of God. He could not accept the reality that eternal life would be far better than the life he had already. He did not accept the reality that eternal life would change the life he had before. He did not believe that the life Jesus wanted to give him was better. He valued what he already had above what Jesus wanted to give him. Jesus promised him something that he should have understood and wanted: Treasure in Heaven.

When we receive Jesus, He leaves some of the things we had in our lives before. But the things He gives us along with eternal life make the things we were given or acquired before seem insignificant. The issue is that He always knows best and He should always decide. Whether the life He gives us is a life of health, wealth and comfort or a life of illness, poverty and persecution, it will lead to glory. A life with God in it is better than a life without Him. One wise Christian described it this way: I am happier now when I am sad than I was before when I was happy.

The things God wants us to give up would not be good for us. The things He wants to give us will be blessings. When we ask for something in prayer and God says no it is because He knows what is best. When we put our own will above the will of God we can*t have His will. When we put God*s will above our own we will have everything that the Lord knows we need.

No matter how difficult their lives are, I have never met a Christian that would exchange what he has been given since receiving Jesus for what he had before. I occasionally ask someone who has just received Jesus: If you could go backwards half an hour and undo receiving Jesus, would you want to? I have never encountered anyone who wanted to go backwards. We know instantly that we have been given something better.

I spend way too much time fussing and fretting about the things of this life and way too little time being concerned about the things of God. Even though it sometimes overwhelms me, I want to be in His presence and at His right hand as often and as long as possible. How about you?

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