THAT ULTIMATE KINGDOM SERIOUS FOCUS!

     Another glorious testament to the great life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; but this is one of characteristics that people hardly point out and honestly it’s tough to swallow. In this devotional I will point out how Jesus was so focused on the Kingdom of God and His purpose from God that He didn’t let anyone or anything stop Him!

The first scripture Luke 9:60

“Jesus said unto him, ‘Let the dead bury their dead; but go thou and preach the kingdom of God’”

     A little context/background. At this point of His life, Jesus was teaching the disciples and then a man said he wanted to join in to the movement. At any point of Christianity a new follower is always good. Jesus wanted to educate the people on what they’d really be signing up for, Jesus had no set comfortable area to lay His head and there was a lot of hard times ahead of Him, but then another man still persisted that he’d follow…until he almost blew it all in his next phrase(lol). The man told Jesus that he wanted to go bury his father first. Seemingly a reasonable request, he wanted to properly send off the man who had nurtured him through life and had a part in making him into the man he was at that moment. Yet Jesus told him basically to forget all that because it was over and instead pursue spreading the kingdom.

     Now my intention is not quite to get into the revelation of what exactly Jesus meant to let the dead bury the dead because surely there is a lot there to be dealt with and understood; but instead I want to draw our attention to that fact that Jesus would not let an emotionally driven situation stop Him (or the people that intend to be around Him) from proclaiming the gospel. Yet another example, Matthew 16:23

“But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men”

     Background/context. A few versus before Peter declared Jesus to be the son of God the very messiah and Jesus says He will build His church upon this revelation and said that Peter was hearing straight from God what other people weren’t hearing. Peter had to be feeling good…emotional actually…so shortly thereafter when Jesus begins to talk about the death and resurrection that He MUST endure. Peter told Him essentially “Nah bro I love you too much you can’t go through something like that” and thus we arrive at the verse we I pointed out. It seems harsh for Jesus to call Peter satan, ESPECIALLY since He gave Him so much praise a few verses earlier. However if Jesus fed into the emotional appeal that Peter offered Him, it would be a tougher assignment for Him to complete.

     In conclusion, I assert unto you to be focused on God! There will be all kind of distractions and reasons not to do what God has called you to do RIGHT NOW! Be careful of the emotional appeals that people offer you, whether it be that you’re assignment is hard, or they offer you a sad story these are also distractions. Don’t get me wrong, sad things happen, and the people around you that love you will tell you what they think is best for you and will keep you safe and doing well. But you must trust God above all others. You must focus on His will more than ANYTHING ELSE…over everything!

Over and Out J