Made Willing

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse (be unwilling) and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." (Isaiah 1: 18-20)

Those who are the Lord's children, who have been saved and justified, forgiven and cleansed of sin, are described as being both "willing" and "obedient." On the other hand, those who are "cursed children" (II Peter 2: 14) are the unwilling and the disobedient.

The elect are known by the two adjectives of willing and obedient. Those who are saved are they who have "allowed" the gospel message of Christ, while those who are lost are they who have "disallowed" and "refused" Christ. (I Peter 2: 4, 7)

"And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. " (John 5: 40)

Why did they not come to Jesus? Did he not give sufficient witness to who he was? Was there some inner bias against him? Do all sinners have this stubbornness to believe? Why do they refuse and disallow Christ and his message? Is it not because they have something gravely wrong with their "wills," the immediate source of their decisions and actions?

Before there can be obedience, there must first be a "willingness," or inner disposition, or spiritual promptitude, for the person and message being heeded and obeyed. "...if there be first a willing mind" (II Corinthians 8: 12) is the caveat to all external and godly obedience.

"For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves...Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." (II Corinthians 8: 3, 11, 12)

From whence comes this "readiness to will"? Does it spring up accidently or haphazardly? Is it strictly random? Why do some have this readiness to will while others do not? Who or what "makes the difference"?

Paul said - "...for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." (Romans 7: 18)

Did not Paul give full credit to the Lord and his grace for making him to differ from another? for why he was made willing while others not? (See I Corinthians 4: 7)

"...whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD...And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments...as many as were willing hearted, and brought..." (Exodus 35: 5, 21, 22)

"And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind." (I Chronicles 28: 9)

A "willing heart" and a "willing mind" are products of the work of the Spirit of God. In this matter of a change of will, which is the very essence of spiritual "regeneration" and of the "birth of the Spirit," Lord God is the only one who can effect it. "With men this is impossible." The willing mind stems from a willing spirit - "whose spirit made willing."

"Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. " (Psalm 110: 3)

"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. " (Proverbs 21: 1)

If Lord God does not make a sinner willing, by his power, shall he ever become willing? If it takes power to change a stubborn and rebellious will, whose power is it? The power of the sinner's own will to change itself? Or, are we to credit Lord God for the miraculous change of a sinner's heart, mind, and will? If the heart and will are "turned" to the Lord, who turned it? Did the heart and will of the sinner turn itself?

"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2: 12, 13)

"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13: 20, 21)

Lord God alone is the one whom every Christian should credit for his being "made willing." The choice to follow Christ was not "made in a vacuum," but was the result of God's action on the heart and will. He "turned" the heart, and "put within" it a new willingness, a desire to follow Christ.

The will of the finally impenitent and unbelieving is described in these texts.

"But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us." (Luke 19: 14)

"And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God." (Psalm 78: 8)

Friend, I ask you to look at your will and your heart. In what direction is your will bent? What is the state of your heart? Does your heart lust for evil things or thirst after the Lord? Is rebellion and stubbornness in your heart towards your God and Creator?

"And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people." (Acts 3: 23)

Will you be one who "will not hear" our Lord Jesus Christ, "that prophet" whom Moses said should come? Then know that you will be one of those who will be "destroyed."

Do not be one of those who are "willingly ignorant" (II Peter 3: 5) of these things. Ask the Lord to operate on your heart and will, to "make you willing," and to "make you a believer," and to give you "repentance unto life."