What does God want?

 

What does God want?

What do you give someone who has everything?  God is all powerful.. He can create whatever he wants.  What could he possibly want from us.  What can we give him  that he cannot give Himself?

So, what is the will of God?  Well, there is God's Will of Decree, Sovereign Will.   That is God's control over all that comes to pass.  We, as God's children, do not have any control over these occurrences.  One example might be a hurricane.  No earthly being causes a hurricane.  It is an act of God.  We attribute it to the Will of God.  God has a plan for the world. We do not understand everything he does, but in faith we believe that he has a plan for good and will used whatever he has allowed for His purposes.   God has set up certain laws and principles upon which the natural world works.  Sometimes they work to our disadvantage, but we trust that in the end God will use them for good.  That works for people too.  Some times people do bad and hurtful things.  God allows these things to take place, but in the end He will use them for our good and to attain his purposes.  It is for us to accept these things.

Then there is God's will of Command.  This is what he commands us to do.   In Judaism God's will is said to be the 10 Commandments and the Mitzvah (613 commandments given in the Torah and 7 rabbinic commandments issued later for a total of 620).  In Christianity we also look to the 10 Commandments and also the teachings of Jesus.  These teachings of the mind and heart of Jesus are found in the Gospel of Matthew Chapters 5, 6, and 7.  They include, among other things,  the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer.

So, we have the plan of God and the rules God has set out for us in order to fully participate in his plan.   There is one other thing, though.  God gives us a free will.  We can choose to obey his commands or not.  While we cannot change what God does, we can accept it in faith or not.  Herein lies what I believe God really wants.  He could have created being that would always accept and obey.  He did not choose to do that.  What I believe God really wants is good freely chosen.  The rest is details. 

The best part is that we have a loving and forgiving God.  So, if for whatever reason we do not choose the good,  we can repent and he forgives and welcomes us with open arms.

So, there you have it.  Good freely chosen.  Take some time to read Matthew's Gospel Chapters 5, 6, and 7. 

God love you!