Day 104, Year 1

Following God’s Will Can Change Your Heart

“Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way.” (Proverbs 23:19 NASB)

“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.” (John 7:17 NASB)

The righteous and upright are blessed by the Most High God. How does a crooked person become upright? “Be wise” in the first verse of today, chakam in Hebrew, also means “to have wisdom, to make wise, to act or deal wisely.” Indeed, as believers continually accumulate divine knowledge and wisdom, and act according to her, we become wiser. Similarly, the second verse of today mentions that those who are determined to do God’s will could discern more and more whether the teaching of Jesus is from Father God or not. There is a wonderful principle on the spiritual path—the more we follow wisdom in our actions, the wiser we become. And the more we submit to the will of Jesus, the more precisely we can discern His right teaching from others. When we resolve to follow the will or desires of God, through continuously obeying and reflecting, we can increasingly use the biblical principles and the experiences of godly people to discern His heart and will in almost everything. We should pursue God’s wisdom. His wisdom will certainly untangle all disobedience in us and nurture a heart that is more entirely submitted to Him.

Why should God explain His will to those who do not want to follow? When people know the principles of wisdom but do not act accordingly, they walk a path of forsaking wisdom. Then, how would those who forsake wisdom receive more wisdom? When people know the will of Jesus but do not act on it, their understanding of the Lord’s intentions becomes distorted, and might even come to regard the teachings contrary to the Bible as their truth to believe. Conversely, God requires believers to be consistent in faith and action, and He wants us to resolve all our inner self-contradictions so that we can completely trust in Him with honesty.

We who pursue godly wisdom would have our hearts directed in the right and blessed way. The word “direct” in the first verse of today, ‘asher in Hebrew, means “to go straight, to make progress, to set right, to pronounce happy, or to call blessed.” The interpretation in the Chinese Union Version of the second half of the verse is that “be wise so that your heart will be guided to walk the right path.” In other words, when we pursue God’s wisdom, resolve, and act to do His will, His wisdom would change our hearts by guiding us along to advancing on His right path. To this end, He will bless us abundantly.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you resolve to follow God’s will in making all decisions? If there are any difficulties, how would you lean on Him to overcome them?

2) Do you feel there are contradictions in your heart or mind, or inconsistencies in your beliefs, and your words and deeds? If there is a problem in tackling this, what will you do?