There’s a fire that burns at the core of a man’s heart when he is confronted with purpose. We live in a world where perverted definitions and theories have blurred the ancient landmarks of purpose; landmarks that can only be found within the brackets of the Bible. Therefore, Satan steadily coins counterfeit versions of purpose, which is anything and everything to keep man busy, so busy that he never comes to realize that his purpose is just one thing; to spend his entire life pleasing God.
According to Hebrews 11:8, Abraham forsook the certainty and pleasures of his father’s house, and spurned the comfort of this world, rather he held on to pleasing the Lord. Moses overlooked the glories of Egypt, forsaking the life of luxury offered to him by Pharaoh’s daughter to pursue his true purpose and he pleased the Lord (Hebrews 11:24-27). However, the likes of Cain and Esau loved the pleasures of this world. Esau saw no value in keeping his birthright and when he sought his birthright in tears, he could not back what he despitefully threw away.
However, our Lord Jesus pleased God to the uttermost, he did everything that he saw his Father do (John 5:19). He left a flourishing career in carpentry when the Lord required it of him, he loved his brethren and kept them close even when many of them either misinterpreted his words or did not understand his sayings at all. He was humble enough to accommodate them and willing to pour his love on all of them – including Judas who cheaply sold him out to his murderers. The people stoned him for saying what his Father asked him to say (John 10:32), and at the end of it all, he obeyed God even unto a shameful death on the cross.
Even now he’s our great high priest, interceding for us, he hasn’t taken a break from his priestly duties even after his huge sacrifice on the cross over two thousand years ago (Hebrews 8:1-6). All that he did and is still doing is to please the Father. Our Lord Jesus is God’s perfect example of a man who fully his accomplished purpose on earth (Hebrews 1:1-4) because he pleased the Father to the fullest (2 Peter 1:17).
In Romans 8:28, Apostle Paul wrote that ‘All things work together for our good…’, let’s not stop there, ‘…. to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose’. The next verse explains our purpose, that God foreknew us, and predestined us to conform to the image of His Son. God promises that when we answer this call of change in nature, we will be glorified the same way Jesus was glorified. 2 Corinthians 3:18 further explains that when we choose to behold the Son with an open face, we are changed into the same image of the Son from glory to glory.
Dear Beloved, there is a standard for us to reach, there’s a race set before us that we must run. Hebrews 12:1-2 says that because we have so great a cloud of witnesses cheering us on we need to lay aside every sin and weight that easily beset us.
Spiritual inconsistency is a weight, and weights breed a comfortable ground for sin to flourish. Just like Jesus lived on this earth, we should understand that being on earth is not the end but a means to an end.
Every day lived on earth is an opportunity to keep beholding Jesus. The earth is a technology of formation, the same way Jesus is interested in forming us, the devil is also seeking for souls to be conformed to his hellish image.
Beholding Jesus with an open face is to obey the commandments of the Lord dropped in our spirits by the Holy Spirit. Beholding Jesus is holding the Bible dear to our hearts, and seeking to understand what is written therein. Beholding Jesus is realizing that there is no other dream to live for than that we conformed fully to the image of the Son. There is a prize set before us, a race that we have to run, we are soldiers first to conform to His image, and all other priorities should never compete with the temples that God is refining us to be. We were created to house God, Jesus was the fullness of the Godhead bodily, the express image of God’s person and He’s our standard (Colossians 2:9)!
I do not know about you but there are natures in me that need to be expired; anger, hate, envy, covetousness, deceit, lust, and many others that the devil has skillfully worked in me due to my carelessness and ignorance (Ephesians 2:1-2; 2 Corinthians 7:1). But it is stated in scripture that Jesus, the Word of God, became flesh like me to prove to me that I can rise above them all (John 1:14).
We can be holy as He is if we keep obeying, following the leading of the Spirit tenaciously, and shutting out the noise of this world to face Him alone. Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, said that although afflictions would come, there are but light afflictions engineered to work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
I want this glory! I want to become as Jesus is! As a result, when the Holy Spirit brings instructions no matter how little, I would follow. When the instructions seem too heavy for me, I know that His grace is sufficient for me to obey (2 Corinthians 12:9 -10), and when the devil tries to poke me with legitimate thoughts I know that I will overcome because the Lord said that I would (2 Corinthians 10:5-6). I would be consistent in praying, reading the scriptures, reading spiritual books, loving my brethren, and loving the Lord with all my heart because there’s glory at stake! (1 Peter 5:10).
I am confident that when I spend my life seeking God, it won’t return to me as void, never! I am confident that if I keep on doing one thing, I will inherit all things! I would become like Jesus, inconsistency would not stop me, laziness would not stop me, and disobedience, lust, and rebellion would not stop me. If God promised me the glory of becoming like His Son, I believe it, I’ll obey, and that settles it! Hallelujah!!!! (Hebrews 7:25; 1 Peter 1:4)
