Jesus is talking about what it means to be a good witness for God. He has just finished evangelizing the woman at the well, and soon will evangelize the townspeople that are due to show any minute. In the brief period between, Jesus speaks to his disciples about how important it is to do the will of God, more important than things like food, which his disciples were urging him to eat: “My food is to do the will of God and accomplish His work” (John 4:34). What is the lesson for us? Simply this: Being a witness for Christ is our most important and primary goal. That equates to doing God’s will, and that must be the most important thing in our lives.

This truth is simple, yet profound and has weighty implications. Jesus essentially tells us that we must be willing to consider altering, changing, or forgoing whatever we believe to be important and foundational in our lives, not just our food. What are you prepared to go without, or to have less of, or perhaps put up with more of, in order to do the will of God, in order to be a sterling witness for Christ? We might ask ourselves these questions:

Am I willing to go without certain rights as a citizen of this country, in order to be a witness for Christ? To be embarrassed just to obey the Lord? How about ridiculed? Can you say, “I desire to do God’s will more than exercising my rights, even though exercising my rights in this country is an honorable thing. I desire God’s will more?”

Am I willing to chance being threatened and persecuted just to obey the Lord? To be a witness for Him in a particular situation that can even be potentially life-threatening? Can you say, “I desire to do God’s will more than ensure my safety, even though self-preservation is a good thing. I desire God’s will more?”

Am I willing to be a witness for Christ, when obeying God’s will might cause those close to me to end our long and solid relationship? A good witness for Christ will not forego worship with the body, or reading his Bible, or praying with his children, even if his unbelieving spouse threatens divorce should He continues. Can you say, “I desire to do God’s will more than please my spouse, even though pleasing my spouse is a good thing. I desire God’s will more?”

A good witness for Christ will not lie or do anything unethical in her place of business, no matter how much her boss threatens to let her go. Can you say, “I desire to do God’s will more than my job, even though working is a good thing. I desire God’s will more.”

Remember that my witness to the world is in both word and deed; the two must go together. I can’t very well take the opportunity to proclaim Christ when, at the same time, my life is not in order, or is a poor testimony to what I believe and preach.

If you have been born again, born as a witness, that is what you are. That is your nature. And by nature, you are to witness in all that you do. You ought to consider carefully, then, how you might be a witness to others by the way you interact with them. This is a truth that most of us don’t usually have in the forefront of our brain. Let me give you an example. I might wait in line at the grocery store to be checked out and see someone cut in front of me. If I am tempering my thoughts and actions with how I might witness to the uniqueness of the Savior and Lord, I might let the fact that I was offended or wronged in someway go and hope that I can talk to this person, or those observers next to me, about things that are more important than fair treatment. Even if the chance of a conversation is slim, at the very least, I want to set the stage for such an encounter. Now if I am more preoccupied with getting through my “to-do list” than I am with being a witness, I might raise a stink: “Hey, buddy, the end of line is over there!” What about you? If you were in this situation, where you were mistreated, would you be more interested in getting justice for yourself, which may be your right and fully expected, or more interested in an opportunity to demonstrate to the person who mistreated you and to others that there is something more important in this world being fairly treated? The particular goal that is ruling us at the time of our trial will dictate our responses and behavior.

Now you may be discouraged, because there are so many things in life that can take precedence over the desire to do God’s will. Yes, but be encouraged for a number of reasons:

1. You can repent of that sin when it happens and then train yourself in this area of godliness, to seek God’s will more than anything else.

2. Be confident that true contentment comes when you know that you have God’s pleasure and approval in what you do, if what you do is nothing short of His will. Proverbs 3:5, 6 says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” We should get more satisfaction from knowing that God is pleased with our actions at any given moment than we do from attaining any selfish goal.

3. You can learn to want God’s will more than anything else: Paul’s personal testimony to this in Philippians 4:11-13 is: Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Paul says that he has learned the secret of being hungry. The key word there is “learned”. We can learn to be content even in terrible situations, such as hunger, when we think less of our own agendas and more about how to be a witness for Christ in any given situation.

4. Find out what the will of God is for you in your particular situation. Paul emphasizes the importance of knowing God’s will in Ephesians 5:15-17:  “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

5. Everything that God wants us to know is found in the Bible? What is God’s will? we might ask. It is His Word on the printed page, the Bible. It is His revealed will. There are two aspects to God’s will: (1) that which He has decreed, His secret will, which we do not and cannot know until it has happened; and (2) the revealed will of God, that is the Bible, which we can know and are responsible to know. Deuteronomy 29:29: "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Let’s resolve not only to know it, but to do it, to be doers of the Word, not merely hears, in order that we might be good witnesses for Christ, for that is our passion, our primary goal, the one thing that we love more than life itself (Matthews 6:33).

– Dr. Bob Burrelli, Grace Bible Church, Bridgewater, MA