Are you following in the steps of Jesus?  By inspiration, Peter admonished us to do so.

1 Peter 2:21 (ESV)
²¹  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 

One great example that Jesus gave us to follow was the willingness to put God’s will before everything else.  Jesus was willing to do this at the most critical time of His life.

Matthew 26:39 (ESV)
³⁹  And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

This is one of the hardest principles to follow as disciples of Christ.  Putting God’s will before everything else will require sacrifice at times, and sometimes even suffering.  It is likely to be unpopular among some people, but Christians are not dissuaded by that because pleasing God is what is most important to us.  We learn that from Jesus.

John 8:29 (ESV)
²⁹  And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

Notice how consistent Jesus was.  He always did what was pleasing to His Father.  He was not the least concerned with being popular with the people because His mind was always on doing the Father’s will.  That is where He derived His strength.

John 4:34 (ESV)
³⁴  Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

Let us follow the example of our Savior.  If we focus on doing God’s work, we will not have time to worry about what man thinks.  Like Christ, pleasing our Father will be the most important thing to us.  We have an Old Testament example of this as well.  Daniel was more concerned with pleasing God than doing what was popular; thus, as a captive in Babylon, he refused to eat from the king’s table (even though it was an honor to do so) because he did not want to be defiled before God (Daniel 1:8).

Something else that stands out about the example of Jesus in Matthew 26:39 is that He was not just putting the will of God before other people, He was putting it before His own will.  This might be the hardest part of discipleship.  I have often said, putting God’s will before others, in general, is easy in the overall scheme of things, but putting God’s will before my own is more difficult.  It is not that I do not understand the importance of putting God’s will before my own, it is that the flesh seems to get in the way sometimes.  That is why the old man, the one that has been corrupted by sin, has to be crucified (Galatians 2:20).

If Jesus always put the will of His Father first, so can we.  The question is, will we choose to follow in the steps of our Savior?  Will we be true Christians?  

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.