Whose Agenda
“‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”
Today’s Text: Ezekiel 36:32-38 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
God’s agenda—God’s purpose—from the very start to the very end is that the whole world would be filled with people who know that He is the LORD.
The problem is that the world is full of people who don’t care about God’s agenda. Or if they do care about God’s agenda, they care more about their own agenda. So they think, “Who cares if anyone else doesn’t know that He is the LORD as long as I know.”
In fact, that problem of making God’s agenda secondary or irrelevant is the source of sin. That problem was the cause of the fall of humanity in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve had a relationship with God. His purpose for them was to fill the earth with His glory (Genesis 1:28). But they wanted the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because it was pleasing to the eye, good for food, and good for gaining wisdom (Genesis 3:6). They wanted what they wanted—not what God wanted.
And it’s not that God does not want to bless us. It’s not that God does not want us to experience the good things of this world. It’s not that God does not want us to gain wisdom. He does! It’s just that God wants us to experience the goodness and the blessings of life as we pursue His purpose in this world—as we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
But here is how sin works. The very thought of pursuing God’s agenda and purpose first and foremost in our lives becomes an unbearable burden for many people. I’m talking about Christians, here. The burden is that they don’t get to do whatever they want to do without any restriction upon themselves and without any concern for God’s purpose. That’s original sin.
In other words, pursuing God’s agenda does not mean that we cannot enjoy good, fun, tasty, enriching things. Pursuing God’s agenda does not mean that we cannot build strong, meaningful, and deep relationships with people. It just means that we experience those blessings according to God’s will, not our own. And that is what so many people cannot bear.
And we have to keep in mind that, sooner or later, the world WILL know that Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). The only real question for us is whether we will take part in God’s agenda or whether we will will pursue our own agenda.
Father, You are Sovereign LORD. You know that, but do I really know that? Help me to know in the very center of my being that You are LORD. And because I know that You are LORD, may my words and actions bear witness to Jesus Christ. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
