Scripture Reading: Mark 10:37-40
We have to drink the cup that the Lord drinks. This is quite clear from Mark 10:37-40. We are put into the same position and we should have fellowship with Him along this line. The cup and baptism that is referred to in this verse have nothing to do with atonement, which is something we have no part in.
This cup is doing the will of God, and it is doing His will irregardless of the things that are involved. Certain things are bound up with the will of God, but we should not be occupied with these things as such, but with God's will itself. The cup is a perfect giving over of ourselves to do the will of God, without being occupied with the things that are related to this will.
The practical difficulty with many is that when they try to find out God's will, they get occupied with the thing in question. For instance, suppose I am asked to go to India for some meetings there. When I kneel down to pray, my thoughts go to India — the place, the opportunities, the drawbacks, the money I will spend going there, the other places I might go instead, etc. All the pros and cons come before me, and I immediately become occupied with the thing, instead of simply being occupied with the will of God. This is how Satan gets a hold on us. His way is to occupy us with the things or the difficulties. As a result we become timid and cannot know God's will.
It is a simple matter to know the will of God if we are not taken up with the things His will involves. If we truly want God's will and are occupied with His will, the power of God will be there. But if we are occupied with the difficulties and all that the doing of His will may involve, Satan will come in. If we are perfectly willing to do God's will and are not afraid of anything, He then shows us His will quite easily. We will just know, and that is all that there will be to it!
The Lord was occupied with the will of God, not the cross. This is why He could bear the cross. If His thoughts had been occupied with how heavy the cross was or how terrible the nails were, He could not have borne it.
Whenever we are seeking the will of God, we must be careful. We must refuse to be occupied with the things that may be involved. It is easy for us to become taken up with thoughts about the things. We must refuse such thoughts. Suppose God's will is for you to do something, yet you need some money. You may wonder how you can live through the next night and where the money will come from. This is being occupied with the things, and Satan will get you if your mind is set on these things.
There was a captain in a great war. An order was given by the colonel to attack a certain point. This order was really a mistake, and the captain realized that to follow it meant death. But he asked the orderly only one question; he inquired if this was really the order. On being assured that it was, he concerned himself with nothing else. They attacked and were all killed. This must be our attitude. We must be concerned only with the order, the will of God; we should not be concerned with the things or the difficulties. If we do it, Satan can never lay hands on us.
I am going to do the will of God and will not be pinned down to anything. I will be perfectly mobile and detached. All struggles come because we become occupied with the things. Satan will inject more and more fear into us. If we are wholly occupied with God's will alone, we are drinking the cup. This kind of drinking has glory in view.
The will of God is perfect, good, and acceptable. It is acceptable to us, and it will continue to be so if we are occupied with the will alone. There is something in us, something of God, that will never be satisfied with anything less than the will of God. We should live by this.
