Whatever He Tells You

Daily Reading: John 2

Scripture Focus: Do whatever he tells you. (John 2.5)

Devotional Thought: James and John once said to Jesus, “Master, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”  Compare that to what Paul asked Jesus when he encountered him on the road to Damascus: “What do you want me to do?”  Which prayer has the greatest potential to unleash the power of God?

Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine, at a poorly planned wedding reception.  Jesus was a guest at the wedding, along with several of his disciples and Mary, his mother.  The poor hosts had embarrassed themselves by running out of wine.  Mary took it upon herself to try to fix things for the hapless hosts.  She went to Jesus and told him about the situation, communicating the message: “Son, I need you to do something about this.”  Then, Mary moved from request – “This is what I want you to do” – to surrender – “Do whatever he tells you."

As the servants at the wedding did whatever Jesus told them, a miracle unfolded.  Jesus took the ordinary stuff of life, offered by the ordinary hands of obedient servants, and transformed it into abundance!  When the wedding hosts had run out of their resources, God began to provide from his heavenly storehouse.  But only after they did “whatever he told them.”

Have you reached the “Whatever Stage” of your journey with Christ?  Are you willing to give whatever he asks of you, to do whatever he instructs you, to invite whomever he prompts in your heart?  When we do that, we find – like the wine-deficient wedding hosts – that Jesus will transform our scarcity into overflowing blessings.  And remember this: Doing whatever he tells you means whatever – even if he tells you to do nothing!

Prayer: Lord, so often I am tempted to operate in the mode of the disciples when they said, "We want you to do for us whatever we ask."  Forgive me, Lord, as I now pray, "What do you want me to do?"  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 33.1-7

1 Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.

2 Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!

3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

4 For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.

5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.

6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses.