Are You Seeking A Purpose Driven City?
Good Morning Friends,
Perhaps you have read the Purpose Driven Life. It has a clear message… it is not about us but about God and our connection with our Savior and hopefully Lord. Yet even as His Creation shouts out the message of His love, we still fall short. We fail at being a purpose driven community because we are still in the desert between the garden and the city built by God. Cities like Shinar and Nineveh and Sodom and Gomora have fallen. It becomes clear that even though we may want claim possession of our Jericho we must continue on for we really are only custodians. Are You Seeking A Purpose Driven City?
Scripture: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And . . . . “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:37, 39 (NIV)
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”
Genesis 2:15-17 (NRSV)
For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:10 (NRSV)
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
Jeremiah 29:4-7 (NRSV)
Message: Adam and Eve did not have too many neighbors to distract them from their purpose and still they messed it up. But blaming them is pointless for we are truly no better when it comes to sinning. Sure we are unworthy and do not deserve God but make no mistake about this. Self-condemnation should never be the focus of our feelings, for that alienates us from Christ. Thankfully from the very beginning, God has taken great intention, pleasure and glory in relating to and connecting with Him through the beauty, experiences and lessons of Creation. Friends, you are the crown of his creation and our holy purpose as stewards is to glorify the Lord. Friends, we glorify the Lord by tending His garden by and not allowing our joy to be stolen by the enemy. We glorify the Lord by helping to build Cities for God. God is sending the world to cities. Here our work expresses the divine image in us. Understand that this connection was in place from the very beginning and continues after Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection on our behalf. It is natural that we ask, “Why we are here?” It is natural to ask, “Do I matter?” Friends, we were put here for a purpose but we cannot figure this out by yourselves alone. We cannot improve our answers by acquiring things. We cannot create our own purpose. God put us here for a purpose. He formed you to be His servant. He chose you before the creation of the world. Know this about life: God loves us more than we know. God wants us to love Him with all our hearts. God wants us to love others in His name. This we can never own, we can only share. Maybe that is why God also created cities. No matter where you live, you should be seeking to help restore and rebuild cities. That’s biblical. The Bible teaches us that cities and all communities exist on both ends of the spectrum of optimism and pessimism. We are told in the book of Hebrews that the great patriarchs like Moses, David and Abraham had a goal during the time of their wandering through the desert of coming upon a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. I wonder what they would think of modern day Bethlehem, Haifa, Mecca, Varanasi, Vatican City, Salt Lake City, Jerusalem, Medina, Pushkar, and Lhasa. All the world’s religions seek to bring a little bit of heaven to earth. Friends, the Bible begins in a garden but ends in a city. Not everyone will live in cities but the new covenant community is described as a city where people live together in harmony as God’s redeemed people as a place that releases our greatest potential. Cities are places where we can gather together in refuge and in a civilized way. Like the patriarchs we too are to search for a spiritual place where we can serve God.
Pray we realize that the devil will try to steal that which he cannot create. Pray we realize that God did not place us here to have trouble and sorrow and to end our days in shame. Pray our work is an opportunity to worship God, to work with God and to enjoy the fruits of our work. Pray we have a commitment to one another. Pray we understand that God puts a high value on our lives. Pray we too should value others as much as we value ourselves. Pray we understand our purpose. Pray our purpose gives meaning to our lives. Pray our purpose simplifies our lives. Pray our purpose prepares us to live. Pray our purpose keeps us focused. Pray our purpose motivates us. Pray we realize that God so loved us that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have life eternal. Pray we realize that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Pray for a City worthy of Jesus.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 