Fulfilling Your Purpose - 9 of 10

by Web Admin, 2 years ago

Following Jesus

Today's Devotional Scriptures: 

• Matthew 4:17-22
• Matthew 16:24-28
• Romans 6:1-6

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Our primary call is to follow Jesus. A lot of believers are investing time and energy in trying to discern God’s call for them, not realizing that it is usually not needed. There are three stages in our life with Jesus. The first is the basic call to all of us to follow Him. The second is to be a faithful and serving member of the community of God or the church. Unless I respond to these basic calls, I will not understand the call of God for me. 

Jesus’ call to Paul came on the Damascus road, and he responded to the call to follow Jesus. Because he responded to the call, God sent Ananias of Damascus to assist him on this journey of following Christ. Ananias baptized Paul and confirmed his decision to follow Jesus.

In John 6:60, we see that some of the disciples found the teachings of Jesus hard, and in John 6:66 they stopped following him. That is the story of many who begin to follow Jesus, but then they bump into a hard saying and stop following him. Unfortunately, they think they are still following Jesus although they have rejected the teaching He has given them. Because of this, they never understand God’s call for them and the purpose of God for their life. We need to follow Jesus in all aspects of our life if we want to hear God’s call for us.

To follow Jesus we take baptism and commit ourselves to live for Jesus. The meaning of baptism is seen in Romans 6:1-6 where it signifies dying with Jesus and being raised to serve Him. Jesus puts the same thought in different words in Matthew 16:24-28.

Jesus set the necessity of committing himself to Jesus to the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 when Jesus told him to sell all that he had, give the money to the poor, and follow Him. 

Does this mean that we give away all our worldly wealth and live as ascetics? No. It means that the motivations in our lives do not come from these material things of this world, but from the things of the kingdom of God. What are the things of the kingdom of God? They are essentially fulfilling the purposes of God in all areas of my life, work, family, and leisure.

At work, we fulfill the primary purpose of work; to serve mankind by providing them with the means of living and meeting their essential needs. Our motivation is not about what we get from the work as serving the true needs of clients and the building and empowerment of staff to grow in their life and skills. We do not just use people to fulfill God’s work, but we build people so that their life purposes are fulfilled in doing the work.

Live for Jesus