November 21
Willing to do His will
“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God” (John 7:17).
“If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land” (Isa. 1:19).
It is not, If any man do, he shall know; but if any man is willing to do, he shall know. He does not need to do His will in order to know, he only need be willing to do it. For “will” is not at all the sign of the future tense as it looks. It is not connected with the word do at all, but a separate verb altogether, meaning, “is willing,” or “wills.” If any man wills, or if any man is willing to do, he shall know.
Now, notice the difference this makes in the problem. Before, it looked as if the doing were to come first and then knowing His will; but now another element is thrown in at the very beginning. The being willing comes first, and then the knowing; and thereafter the doing may follow—the doing, that is to say, if the will has been sufficiently clear to proceed.