DAY 12

CREATED FOR A PURPOSE

Genesis 29 & 30 and Matthew 9:1-17

I thought today rather than commenting first on the Old Testament, and then the New, I would reverse the order.

Matthew 9:1-17 has in these 17 verses Jesus three times challenging the norms of his day. He forgives sins, He eats with tax collectors and sinners, and He does not have his disciples fast. It is interesting that I am finding Matthew’s Gospel somewhat full of hard-hitting action. I am use to picturing Mark’s Gospel that way. Mark’s is 50% shorter than Matthew’s, but when set alongside two and sometimes three chapters of the Old Testament reading each day, the passages from this first Gospel seem short and to the point.

I am trying to discern what I am taking away from the Gospel reading today. I could jump into a diatribe on any one of the three, but all three? The message I seem to be getting is that Jesus is very focused, and very determined. He is certainly compassionate as He heals the paralytic. He is certainly warm and welcoming as He invites Matthew to follow him as well as dine at his home. He is certainly comfortable and confident in who He is as he allows his disciples to skip fasting because they are with the Bridegroom. In total he appears to me as a man on a mission, more so than I have seen in these passages in the past.

Jesus, the God-man, is determined in His mission to proclaim, live, and when necessary be crucified, for the proclamation of God’s redeeming love. We will read this over and over in the coming chapters, but clearly Jesus is living with a purpose.

In Genesis 29 & 30 tell the story of the next few chapters of Jacob’s life. They stand in contrast to his time at home with Esau. He works 14 years with and for Laban in order to have Rachel as his wife. I certainly didn’t get a sense of Jacob being that patient in the earlier chapters. Is he “patient” because he expects that Esau would kill him if he were home? Possibly, but there is something else taking place. God is at work. Remember in the last chapter Jacob’s dream? I sense that this was a turning point in Jacob’s life. He, at that moment, received God’s promise. The same promise that Abraham and Isaac had received. He is now becoming the Patriarch. Is it possible that he is living in a determined way, in a way that has not a human purpose, but a divine one?

We have a purpose, a divine purpose. I often forget that fact and get too focused on the day-in-day-out things of life. Staying focused on our ultimate purpose by God is key. Some people describe it as purpose, other vision, and still others would view it as a mission. Regardless of what you call it, God has created us for more than the daily grind. Many people have answered that question. There answers appear different, at least at first. Rick Warren in his bestselling book The Purpose Driven Life lists five purposes. All the purposes revolve around our relation to God. Warren isn’t the first to answer this question and won’t be the last. In 1646 the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Confession of Faith describe that our chief purpose was to glorify God and love him forever.

Today, whether you are on a mission with laser-focus as it seems Jesus is, or whether you have a new found sense of your identity in God’s plan as it seems Jacob has, the point is simple…and it goes all the way back to Genesis 1 & 2…you matter. You and I matter to God. We are part of his plan. We read of Jesus. We read of other humans who are muddling along. Muddling or not, take a moment, close your eyes, and simply rest in God’s presence as you acknowledge you are a part of His plan…amazing.