Equipped to Do His Will

Heb. 13:20-21

"Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen"

What a powerful benediction and prayer! God equips me to do everything good through resurrection power! The same power that God used to resurrect Jesus is my power to do the will of God. In fact, it was this resurrection power that gave me the spark of new life. The 'how' is through the blood of the Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ. His death and shed blood cleansed and saved me so that His resurrection power could become my new life just as it was Christ's very life. He became the firstborn of many brothers, of whom I am one. Praise God! If resurrection power could save me and give me a total new life, I can only imagine the power that it gives for me to do His will.

I love how this prayer uses the word 'equip.' It sounds so successful. Just think that I can be equipped for God by God to be pleasing to God. What other relationship is like that? In a job, I am given a task, but my equipping for that task is something that I have to have within myself. I am hired because of my 'equipment.' But in God's realm, I have nothing to offer because my 'equipment' is flawed, weak, and sinful. It is entirely ineffective no matter how hard I try to make it work. Instead, He must equip me through His resurrection power , through His great grace, and through the blood of the eternal covenant. His equipping does not expire with age or new technology, but lasts for eternity. It is crafted by God of divine essence. So here I have a choice, His equipping or my weakness. It seems to be a no brainer! Yet, why do I still try and please God in my own works? Why do I still think that my performance counts for something? This prayer must be my prayer.

Father,

Through resurrection power and the blood of the great shepherd, equip me with everything good so that I may do Your will and be pleasing in Your sight. Blot out my foolish desire to serve You with my own equipping. Let me bring glory to Jesus who gave His all for me.

In His name,

Amen