In today’s Gospel, Jesus exemplifies for us what should be at the core of our daily life as Christians: seeking the will of the Father and acting on it. “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” (Jn 5:17) Jesus angered the Jews by calling “God his own father, making himself equal to God.”(Jn 5:18) What they did not realize was that Jesus himself lives in 
radical submission to the Father in all things: “the Son cannot do anything on his own…” (Jn 5:19) The powers that Jesus has to judge, to forgive sins, to heal, and to raise the dead, have all been given to him by the Father and are the result of the Father’s love.
If we are to live fully our Christian calling we must seek the will of God above all else. Discernment can be difficult and it is common to fall into a spiritual paralysis of sorts when we find ourselves unclear about what God’s will may be for a particular decision in our lives. What we must recognize and reclaim is that we have been adopted into the intimate relationship of divine sonship by virtue of our Baptism. We can move forward with confidence if what we do is motivated by our love for God and our neighbor, and is approached with prayerful willingness to do God’s will. Together let us learn from Jesus to say with certainty, “I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.” (Jn 5:30)
Megan Gettinger is a co-founder of Made New, a ministry devoted to equipping women to overcome the lies that keep them from embracing true freedom in Christ (you can learn more at YouAreMadeNew.com). She enjoys everyday adventures with her husband and their three small children and writes about faith, family, and femininity at thelittlelightwecarry.wordpress.com.
