Do It Right the First Time
Following God and fulfilling the call on your life can sometimes be easier said than done. Anyone of us can say to the Lord that we want to be in His Will and say it all day long. But actually doing it and being in His divine timing is another thing. Matthew 7:21 AMP tells us that “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven”.
Oftentimes, it is the distractions of the enemy that cause or unrepented sin that causes us to stumble. If you have been to any Selah Bible Study or event, you know that we have learned that any area that you do not allow the Lord to deal with is the very area the enemy will use to make you fall. We are the same way. When we do not receive full deliverance in any area, all we do is deceive ourselves. (James 1:22 AMP But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth]).
The Apostle Paul talks about this in Romans 7:14- 25 (AMP):
The Conflict of Two Natures
14 We know that the Law is spiritual, but I am a creature of the flesh [worldly, self-reliant—carnal and unspiritual], sold into slavery to sin [and serving under its control]. 15 For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled and bewildered by them]. I do not practice what I want to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate [and yielding to my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. 16 Now if I habitually do what I do not want to do, [that means] I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good (morally excellent). 17 So now [if that is the case, then] it is no longer I who do it [the disobedient thing which I despise], but the sin [nature] which lives in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. For the willingness [to do good] is present in me, but the doing of good is not. 19 For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want to do, I am no longer the one doing it [that is, it is not me that acts], but the sin [nature] which lives in me.
21 So I find it to be the law [of my inner self], that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully delight in the law of God in my inner self [with my new nature], 23 but I see a different law and rule of action in the members of my body [in its appetites and desires], waging war against the law of my mind and subduing me and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is within my members. 24 Wretched and miserable man that I am! Who will [rescue me and] set me free from this body of death [this corrupt, mortal existence]? 25 Thanks be to God [for my deliverance] through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind serve the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness, my sinful capacity—I serve] the law of sin.
According to Paul every day, we know the right thing, and choose not to do it because of sin in us. This is why deliverance is important.
There are MANY examples of being tripped up in the Bible, but one that has recently stuck out to me is that of Samson. If you are not familiar with Samson, his story can be found in Judges 13-16. Please stop here and go read the whole story.
Now that you have read the story, you know that Samson’s issue was that of lust. Even with his parents trying to encourage him to do right and stay on the Nazirite path (see Numbers 6:1-21), Samson could not stop being interested in women with whom he should not have been involved. He finally met his demise when he met Delilah. Being so deceived by lust, he let her break him down into sharing where his strength came from and she set him up to be humiliated and captured by the Philistines. And sadly, he lost the strength that the Lord had given him.
What is so something about the story is this:
Samson was supposed to be a judge over Israel and help drive the Philistines out. By him being more interested in sex and women, he was outside of the Will of God. The Bible does not say this directly, but I cannot help to think that the whole time Samson was doing the works of the flesh, the Philistines were having a field day destroying God’s people.
Samson knew it was wrong but kept on and kept on. We know that he had some inkling that what he did was wrong and he knew why the Philistines had overtaken him. In Judges 16:28, Samson cries out to the Lord for his strength to return so that he may deal with the Philistines once and for all to save the Israelites from terror. However, Samson had to sacrifice himself to accomplish this goal and probably did not at all live the life God had called him to. Samson’s death was not that of suicide, but really one final attempt to do what he was called to do, even at a great cost of losing his own life.
1 Samuel 15:22 tells us that it is much better to obey than to sacrifice. We know in Biblical times, sin was atoned through an animal sacrifice. But the animal that had to be sacrificed had to meet some parameters that were going to cost the person. While we no longer sacrifice animals to receive forgiveness, we do still have consequences to disobedience. In Samson’s case, it led to great humiliation and loss of life. In any case, we want to always do what God tells us to do and calls us to do the FIRST time, instead of having to sacrifice and suffer.
Moreover, when we do not do what we are called to do, how many people miss the opportunity to hear of Christ and receive salvation because we are not in a spiritual position? I think of Ananias who had to tell Saul (who would later be the Apostle Paul) that he was to meet Saul and pray for him to regain his sight. Now imagine if Ananias had said no, Saul may not have received the total conversation that allowed him to be the Apostle Paul (See Acts 9).
So again, any of us can say to the Lord that we want to be in His Will and say it all day long. But actually doing it and being in His divine timing is another thing. I implore each of us to every day chooses to do His Will, choose to do right in the eyes of the Lord, and choose righteousness.
Let’s Pray:
Lord, I come humbly before you and ask forgiveness for any sin in my life. Sins I did from doing something (commission) and sins I did from not doing something (omission). Father God, help me to every day choose righteousness and to do what you have called me to the first time. Help me to not put off tomorrow the things I can do today. Please cleanse me and heal me in every area of my life so that I may be clean and made whole. Help me to know what you have called me to do and help me to stay on the narrow path. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.