DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU

WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL

JUNE 18, 2023

TOPIC: DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU

BY T. O. BANSO

“His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you’” (John 2:5 New International Version).

The Bible records the first miracle of Jesus in John 2, which was the turning of water into wine at the marriage in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus and His disciples were invited to this wedding. The Bible does not tell us the relationship they had with the groom, bride, or their families but they honoured the invitation.

Weddings at this time often lasted about a week and it was an embarrassment for wine to finish. Unfortunately, at this wedding, they ran out of wine. Somehow, the mother of Jesus got to know and informed Jesus. We don’t know why she did so because Jesus was just a guest. Nevertheless, the mother told Him and Jesus replied, “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. ‘My time has not yet come’” (John 2:4 New International Version).

What was the response of Jesus’ mother to what Jesus said? “His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you’” (John 2:5 New International Version). Note what the mother of Jesus said. We have no record of Jesus performing any miracle before this time. Why did Mary, the mother of Jesus say what she said? It appears she had confidence in her Son’s ability to solve the problem at hand. Could it be that she had seen Jesus solve a similar problem like that in the past privately? Otherwise, why would she tell Him they had run out of wine and also tell the servants to do whatever Jesus told them?

True to what Mary said, Jesus intervened by instructing the servants to do what brought about His first recorded miracle. John 2:6-8 says, “Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet’” (New International Version).

The instruction that Jesus gave these servants did not make sense! The problem brought to His attention was not that water had finished but that they ran out of wine. What has filling six stone water jars nearby used by the Jews for ceremonial washing got to do with wine? He told them to fill the jars with water, draw some out, and give it to the master of the ceremony. If not that the mother of Jesus had told them earlier that they should do whatever He told them, probably nobody would have carried out such an instruction.

But verse 8b says, “So the servants followed his instructions” (New Living Translation). And because they did, a miracle happened. Not only did the water turn into wine, but the wine was also better than the wine they had drunk before and the master of the ceremony pointed this out.

John 2:9-10 says, “And the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, ‘Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now’” (New International Version).

Verse 11 notes that this is the first miracle of Jesus: “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him” (New International Version).

However, we must not forget that the key to this miracle is what Mary said to the servants: “Do whatever he tells you.” If the servants had not obeyed Jesus, the guests would have left the marriage complaining and the bridegroom, bride, and their families would have endured the shame of insufficient wine although the answer to their problem was present at the occasion.

Only God knows how many miracles we have missed or aborted because we failed to obey the Word of God or the instructions or leading of the Holy Spirit to us personally or through His servants.  The latter part of 2 Chronicles 20:20 says, “Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper” (New King James Version).

Do whatever God or the Holy Spirit tells you to do. It may not make sense to you. Your mind is too small to understand the wisdom of God! When God told Abram in Genesis 12 to get out of his country and from his family and father’s house to a land that He would show him, it wouldn’t have made sense to anybody he might have told this, especially since he was already 75 years old. How could a 75-year-old leave certainty for uncertainty and relocate to no specific destination? But the Bible says Abram obeyed God – he departed (verse 4).

Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (New King James Version). Because of his obedience, God fulfilled all that He told him.

Do whatever God tells you. Genesis 6:22 says Noah did all that God commanded him. He built the ark and brought animals into the ark, as God had instructed him. He had no other proof that the flood would destroy the earth and all flesh apart from what God told him and he believed God. He did what God told him. “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7 New King James Version). Noah and seven other people and the animals in the ark with him were saved because Noah did what God told him ( 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5).

Do whatever He tells you. James 1:23 says if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror. Verse 25 says, “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does”  (New King James Version). Do whatever God tells you; don’t be a hearer only but a doer. The blessing is in doing, not in merely hearing. The water turned into wine because those servants did what Jesus told them.

The angel told Manoah, the husband of Samson’s mother, “Your wife must do all that I have told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her” (Judges 13:13-14 New International Version). Do everything God has commanded you or commands you.

Isaiah 1:19 says if you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. Don’t be a Christian who listens but doesn’t obey. Jesus says, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46 New King James Version). In other words, if Jesus is your Lord indeed, you will do what He says.

Jesus says, “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:47-49 New King James Version).

Do you just hear His Word or do you hear and obey? Build your life on the foundation of obedience to the Word of God. There is a relationship between loving God and doing His Word. Anyone who says he loves God but does not do what He says deceives himself. “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me’” (John 14:23-24 New King James Version).

Earlier in verse 21, Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (New King James Version). According to Jesus, the first and great commandment is to love God; the second is to love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:35-40; Mark 12:28-31). All the law and writings of the prophets depend on these two commands. “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (1 John 3:24 New King James Version). 

Did you see the connection between love and keeping God’s commandment – doing what He tells you? See also what 1 John 5:2-3 says: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (New King James Version).

Similarly, you cannot truly claim to know God if you don’t keep His commandments, which, as you have seen, is love – love for God and fellow human beings. Love is both an old commandment and a new commandment (John 13:34; 1 John 2:7-8; 3:11; 2 John 1:5-6). “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him” (1 John 2:3-5 New King James Version).

Do whatever God tells you. That’s where the blessing is. When a woman in the crowd called out to Jesus: “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you” (Luke 11:27 New International Version). Jesus replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (verse 28 New International Version).

Do what God or Jesus has already said in the Bible. Do whatever God or the Holy Spirit tells you. This will never contradict what is written in the Bible. As the Prophet Samuel says in 1 Samuel 15:22, to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams. Do whatever He tells you.

TAKE ACTION!

If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.

I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.

PRAYER POINTS: Father, forgive me for not doing what You told me in the past. In the name of Jesus, I shall, henceforth, do what You have told me to do in Your Word. I shall do what the Holy Spirit tells me to do. Holy Spirit, help me not to be a hearer or reader alone but a doer of the Word of God.

(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).

T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
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Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org