How to Find and Follow God’s Will This Year

There is only one way you will know God’s will for you this year. Relatively speaking, that’s the easy part. But once you know it, then comes the tough assignment.

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From the first verse of Scripture, God revealed how the Earth set the stage for the divine drama of history to take place (Gen. 1:1). From its formless, void beginning, the Lord fashioned the Earth with His intention in its details. From this ground, God made physical people spiritual beings in His image.

Finding and following God’s will was no different for Adam and Eve than it is for us.

We have the same problem they did.

Finding God’s Will This Year

The Lord planted two trees in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:8–9). Adam’s physical need required him to make a spiritual choice: From which tree would he eat? Would he obey God’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

The source of God’s will was easy: God’s words to mankind. So it is with us.  Every method of discerning God’s guidance must point back to the Bible. God’s will is always found in God’s Word.

Either the Bible will keep you away from sin, or sin will keep you away from the Bible. —C. S. Lewis

God originally inspired the book of Genesis for a people about to enter yet another land God prepared. That land would hold the direst of geographical conditions, placing them in a situation similar to Adam’s.

• Would they obey God’s commands? “I have set before you life and death,” God would tell them, “So choose life” (Deut. 30:19).
• Centuries later, Jesus also found Himself facing the same temptation in this barren land—and He clung to God’s Word (Matt. 4:1–10).

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Following God’s Will This Year

Whatever place we find ourselves this year, our duty remains the same: to choose life by obedience to whatever God teaches us in His Word. When we do, we display His image wherever He takes us in His world.

Whether in Eden or Canaan or California, our decision remains the same. The land where we live—be it lush or desolate—is the stage on which we display God’s glory.

• Regardless of our location or influences, God gives us a choice each day from which tree to eat.
• In every case, life or death comes from our response to God’s Word.

As we commit to spending time in the Bible, we should also commit to obeying what our Creator reveals each day:

For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. —Deut. 32:47

Tell me what you think: What is your plan for reading the Bible this year? To leave a comment, just click here.