Jesus didn’t need “motivation,” all He needed was this …

If you listen to what we humans say, write, and post on social media, you would think we can’t even breathe without some sort of “motivation” for doing so.

So many people are profuse about looking for various sorts of motivation:

Motivation to get out of bed …

Motivation to eat healthy food …

Motivation to exercise …

Motivation to be nice to people …

Motivation for forgiving people …

Motivation for being kind …

Motivation for helping suffering people …

Motivation for loving another human being …

And on goes the list.

Jesus didn’t have to search for “motivation” for whatever He did, all He needed to know was that it was His Father’s will.

That was enough.

If God desired it, Jesus did it.

Probably the most poignant picture of this fact is during the night before Jesus would be arrested, falsely accused and tried, and then publicly crucified on a cross. Jesus understood all of that was part of God’s master plan for the salvation and reconciliation of humanity to Himself. But on that night when Jesus prayed in the Garden, knowing He would soon be beaten and hung on a cross, He reveals He would prefer there be another way …

“He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, ‘My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me …'” Matthew 26:39a.

Jesus didn’t need a source of motivation to go on with carrying out the Father’s plan, He just need it be His Father’s will and He was willing to do a n y t h i n g! That’s why Jesus finished the sentence quoted above like this:

“He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, ‘My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine,” Matthew 26:39.

The struggle in Jesus of facing the cross was strong enough for Him to raise the issue in prayer two more times! But each time, what ALWAYS moved Jesus forward was His Father’s will:

“Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, ‘My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done,'” Matthew 26:42.

“So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again,” Matthew 26:44.

There was nothing Jesus was not willing to do if it was the Father’s will. His obedience to the will of the Father brought us victory over sin by His sacrifice on the cross, and life through His resurrection from the dead.

The entire life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ was fueled by a bottomless passion for doing the will of the Father. No other “motivation” was needed.

What fuels your life? Do you have to seek for sources of motivation to move you? How “motivated” are you to respond and to and carry out God’s will for your life? If you were to follow in the example of Jesus in fully obeying God’s will, how would your life change?

Scotty