ODJ: what’s your goal?

April 13, 2015 

READ: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 

You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your strength (v.5).

Some poll results from a few years back reveal the big goals on the minds of Generation Y. A survey asked 18 to 25 year olds what they felt was their generation’s most important goals in life. Eighty-one percent said that getting rich was the most important or second-most important life goal for the group. And 51 percent lifted up becoming famous as the most important thing to achieve for a Millennial.

At the risk of seeming contentious, I don’t think either of these goals should top the list of those who are believers in Jesus. They can be byproducts in our lives, but they don’t possess the right stuff to be our primary goal. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness have never been the ultimate aim for Christians. The world tells us to look inward and satisfy ourselves, but the example of Jesus, in both word and deed, was one of self-sacrifice and of always putting others first.

Our most important goals in life? Jesus said, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your strength” and “you shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18), as recorded in the Gospels (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). All of these verses state that our goals in life should be centred on God and others, not on ourselves.

The really great news is that God provides for our every need and helps us follow and seek after Him (Matthew 6:33). It’s His power that enables us to accomplish His purposes—His plans. Our heavenly Father knows what is truly needed in our lives and His goal is to see us become more and more like Jesus. What an amazing goal from one amazing God!

—Russell Fralick

365-day-plan: 1 Kings 3:1-15