The Single Purpose of Jesus
To be obedient to the will of the Father….Period! That’s it, see you later.
Seriously, there would be no need to write another word. But since I’m here why not dive into it a little more.
We complicate things. We also de-simplify things. I know, that means the same thing. My point is, living for Jesus is not complicated. Yet we think that by involving ourselves in a multitude of religious activity that we become more acceptable to the Father. Simple observation proves that burn-out, frustration, defeat, discouragement, even depression can result from a complicated and “busy” spiritual existence.
Although his ultimate task required immeasurably more than we could ever hope to possess, Jesus lived life by a single eye. That is, he lived to accomplish one thing…to obey the will of the Father. Read about it here.
We also are called to nothing more than that. Read about it here.
But how do we know what the will of God is for our lives? Again, let’s look at the life of Jesus. In John 5:19 Jesus says that even he can do nothing without the Father; that he does only what he sees the Father doing. How did Jesus see what the Father was doing? Jesus spent time with his Father. On countless occasions Jesus went off by himself to pray. In the garden, when the hour of his crucifixion was painfully close, the intensity of his prayers produced blood sweat. Yet it was his single purpose that rings out clearly to us as he cried, “yet not My will, but Your’s be done.”
We involve ourselves in so many activities today that we neglect the one most important activity….time with God. How can I claim to know Him if I don’t intimately interact with Him. The spiritual picture of the Bride/Groom relationship in scripture is there for a purpose. My wife and I know each other so well because we’ve spent quality time together over the past 24 years. She would say not enough quality time. I have faults as a husband, but that’s for another day. Our relationship with our spouse is a direct reflection of our relationship to Jesus. I have a single eye for my wife. On this earth I put nothing in front of her. If my relationship with her is strained, just about everything else is strained as well. And when things in our marriage are strained, it usually means that my time with God has diminished, and that I’m in need of a spiritual readjustment.
A single purpose; to live in obedience, faithful to Jesus.
Time with him will reveal a specific course. The course of Jesus led him to glory to sit at the right hand of the Father. To get there he endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). The cross was worth it for Jesus. For you and me the cross of Jesus is our certain hope of glory; our only pathway to eternal life. We also have “crosses” to endure to reach our destination.
Will you today, with me, pray for a single eye toward God? Would you find a secret place, without distraction, and stay there until the noises fade, and allow his spirit to envelop you? Would you reduce your interests to a few things, and allow Jesus to be the gaze of your soul?
Lord, may the distractions and the clutter of my life be lifted so that a single eye toward you is my only desire. Amen.
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