And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill to all men. - Luke 2:13

On the night before his crucifixion, Jesus, deeply troubled in his Spirit, implored his father, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will but thine be done."

And in agony, with sweat, like great drops of blood soaking the ground around him he earnestly made the same request three times before submitting to his purpose and mission. Therein, my friends, lies the struggle of the ages, the war within. The battle is joined, is fierce and has been raging for centuries without any lull in the fighting.

We have subdued the land, conquered the ocean, defeated diseases, invaded space but the final frontier is proving to be our most recalcitrant foe.

The will of man may yet prove to be the one enemy that gets the better of us.

Our will and the gift of choice may turn out to be our undoing.

The "will" can become a burning cauldron of fiery passion set ablaze by the forces of hell. Thereafter, it is continuously fueled by our lustful desires and selfish ambitions.

Left unchecked and unbridled, in its wake will be a scorched earth, death, destruction and woe.

We live in a natural world and one of the first laws of nature is self-preservation.

Our three primal needs are clothing, feeding and sheltering of self.

We have always heard take care of number one. To thine own self be true.

We are warned, do not let anyone dominate your will. Whoever controls your will controls you. Your will must be the last thing you surrender.

Since everyone is born in sin and shaped in iniquity with all this focus and safeguarding of your will and yourself, it is no wonder that your will leads you to become "selfish." Therefore, you find it virtually impossible to cede your will to another and abdicate the responsibility for your own upbringing and destiny. Indeed, you are regarded as naive, weak, lazy and stupid, if you do any such thing.

Therefore, to trust and obey without question a God that you cannot see or touch means you must stretch beyond your limitation and live outside of your comfort zone.

That, my friend, is not easy to do.

Society, circumstances and culture have served to make man a god unto himself. Indeed it is reinforced by some philosophers and thinkers who say we are all gods. They are often disguised in terms like self-actualization and secular humanism.

We all admire and respect those strong willed people and ridicule those who are not. The question, however, is to know when to be or not to be.

When dealing with your Maker, your will has no place in the discussion or negotiations. You must curtail your thoughts, curb your tongue and limit your actions unless you have heard from Him. You are the servant, He is the Master. You are at his beck and call and must obey his every whim and fancy, no matter how distasteful. That, dear ones, cuts against your grain and requires daily faith and discipline. For the self-assured man who has become accustomed to handling his own affairs that is a task easier said than done. 

The Apostle Paul, sagely observed in Romans 7:15," that I would or should do, I do not; rather I do that would I should not do." He ultimately declares in Galatians, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Every day of your life your will must be brought under subjection or you risk becoming a castaway or a curse upon the earth. 

King Herod was furious that his will was thwarted when the wise men refused to bring him the news about the location of the young child. Therefore, he authorized the slaughter of every male, two years or younger in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas. Today, sadly to report, the town of Newtown, Conn. is acutely and painfully aware of the Biblical passage that chronicled the aftermath. "In Ramah there was a voice heard, lamentation, weeping and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted because they are not."

The Bible recounts the story of Nebuchadnezzar, the great Babylonian king. If you recall, the hanging gardens of Babylon were one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Therefore, its monarch had much reason to be proud. One day he stepped out onto his balcony amidst the splendor of his kingdom .Intoxicated with the influence of his own self- importance, he bragged,"is not this the great Babylon,that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?"

Mind you this is the same king who previously, boastfully inquired of Shadrach, Meschach and Abnego, "who is that God that will deliver you out of my hands?" before tossing them in the fiery furnace. We all know how that turned out. (Daniel 3:24) One would think that he would have learned his lesson. Apparently, he had not. So he was driven out of his kingdom, from the company of men and became like a beast in the field. For seven years his hair grew like eagles feathers, his finger nails became like bird's claws as he moved about like an animal on all fours. He had no protection or covering from the dew or rain of heaven and he ate grass like oxen for his food. After his assigned period of conditioning, seasoning, humiliation and instruction under the hand of the Almighty his reason returned to him.

He ultimately arrived at the following conclusion, "And I blessed the Most High and I praised and honored Him, that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion and His kingdom is from generation to generation and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And He doeth according to "His will" in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand and say unto Him, what doest Thou?"

Samson, the Biblical strongman, rebuked his father who had cautioned him against marrying a foreign woman, saying "Get her for me she for pleases me well." How did that work out for Sammy? (Judges 16:21)

Solomon, the wise one, fell victim to his own will and his indiscretions initiated the dissolution of the kingdom of Israel and the slide into apostasy. Beware his admonition, "There is a way that seems right unto man but the end thereof are the ways of death."

Joshua, the successor of Moses, as he reviewed the landscape of his life, was very astute in his final address, "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)

God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly over and above we can expect or imagine.

God is infinitely greater wiser, stronger, more profound with limitless capabilities and possibilities.

The sooner you concede that, the quicker you will arrive at this inescapable, inevitable conclusion.

Certain doom and destruction is the lot of every man unless he comes to this realization. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being. Our sole occupation, preoccupation and duty is to worship and glorify Him. One day every one of us has to lose his will discard his pride, humble his soul, bow his head and bend his knee.and proclaim loudly so that all the earth will know and the heavens will hear:

"THY WILL BE DONE."

V. Knowles is a husband and father with an interest in penning issues that serve to uplift mankind. He melds his love for Classic literature, The Bible and pop culture - as sordid as it may be - into highly relatable columns of truth, faith and justice. Hence the name: Just Thinking. If he's not buried in a book or penning his next column, you may find him pinned to his sectional watching a good old Country and Western flick.