A Covenant People

Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;

When we consider the will of God one writer suggests that we should “Stop thinking of God’s will for our lives as a separate plan from his will for his kingdom. They are the same.” In doing so we are pointed to Paul’s letter to the Romans 12:1-2

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

It more specifically expresses the extent to which we are submitting ourselves to Christ and His Lordship.

If we are surrendered to Christ then we have given Him carte blanche to instruct us as to how to spend our lives. And that is what we mean when we say: “Put me to what You will”.

In Christ our lives no longer belong to us … they have been given to Christ.

That is, after all, one of the most classic evangelical statements of what it means to be a Christian: “I have given my life to Christ.” This is not some sort of magical transaction. It is exactly what it says.

Being a Christian is giving our every breath … every moment … every heartbeat … every calorie … every talent and ability … every thought … every action … every rand or bitcoin … to Jesus to use according to His pleasure.

In this phrase of our covenant prayer we reiterate our commitment to obey whatever Jesus may instruct us to do.

This invitation to Jesus then divides into two possibilities: Put me to doing or put me to suffering. What they are intended to be in the language of 1755 are essentially the two sides of one coin. The coin is “Put me to what you will”. On one side of that coin is the invitation to assign action: we will consider each of these in turn ; put me to doing; and on the other is the invitation to assign consequences: put me to suffering. Let’s take them one at a time.

Prayer

LORD God, Father, help us by the Holy Spirit to walk victoriously each day as we lay our lives down for Jesus’ sake.  Help us to walk worthy of our calling, to be bold witnesses for You.  Help us to be transformed by the power of Your Word and not be moulded to the ways of the world.  We ask this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.