The Lord promised that if we obeyed Him He would give us the desires of our hearts (Ps. 37:4). The key to having those desires fulfilled is to desire the right things and to live in such a way that God will grant those desires. With those facts in mind, let us ask ourselves a few very pointed, very important questions.

What is the focus of my life? What is the thing that gets me up in the morning? What gives me pleasure and makes me happy? What is it that makes life worth living? At the end of the day, what is it that determines whether I go to sleep a success or a failure in my eyes?

In Matthew 4:9 we find Satan showing Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. Then he makes the Lord a deal: If Jesus would worship him he would give Him all that He saw, thereby saving Himself from what both of them knew was coming. Being a man, Jesus had a decision to make. Being a man who lived to serve His Father, the decision had already been made.

Jesus would later proclaim that He came to earth to do the will of His Father. Obeying God’s will, not owning the kingdoms of the world and basking in their glory, was THE ONLY focus of His life. It was THE ONLY thing that got Him up in the morning, gave Him pleasure and made Him happy. Obeying the Father and receiving His approval was THE ONLY thing that made His life worth living. At the end of the day, being one with the God of the universe was His ONLY determinant of success.

In 1 John 2:6 we are told that if we call ourselves by Christ’s name–are part of His body (the true church)–we must “walk as He walked.” The Lord’s standard of measurement relative to His relationship with the Father was bound up in the question: WHAT WAS HIS REASON FOR LIVING? His reason was singular: TO PLEASE HIS FATHER.

God created man for one purpose–to recreate Himself in His most important creation. There is no other reason for man’s existence. God does not need us, but He wants us for reasons known only to Himself. Why the Creator and Lord of the universe would want me remains a mystery to me. But what is not a mystery is the fact that He does want me–and you. But as is the case in everything God does relative to man, there are rules and regulations that must be obeyed in order for His will to be fulfilled in His creation. God (Jesus in His God form) gave Adam and Eve a Law they had to obey, one part of which was to avoid THE TREE. They were not to so much as “touch it.”

God’s rules and regulations (commandments) had to be obeyed in order for our original parents to become what God created them to become–His clones. Nothing has changed. “He is the same yesterday, today and forever;” “I am the Lord, I change not;” “In Him there is no shadow (hint) of turning;” “In Him there is no darkness (sin) at all.” As a man Jesus knew that in order for Him to return to the Father and resume His God status He had to obey the Father totally. He was the “firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29), meaning that if we hope to be with Him in God’s kingdom in the future we must “walk as He walked” in the present.

God created man to become gods, lesser replicas of Himself. We are created in God and Christ’s image and likeness. But He could not create us with His character by fiat. Man had to create God-like character within himself through obedience to Him. But we are not alone in this endeavor. JESUS HAD TO QUALIFY FOR ACCEPTANCE. In order to join Jesus and God in their kingdom we must “walk as He (Jesus) walked.” We must “purify ourselves as He is pure” (1 Jn. 3:3). We must be continually “washed by the water by the Word” (Eph. 5:26). We must emulate Him in thought, word and act. We must “have the mind of Christ” (Phil. 2:5). In us there must be “no shadow of turning” from the righteousness granted to us when he cleansed us of our PAST sins (Rom. 3:25)–justified us. We must remain justified by obedience to His Word/Law: “It is not the hearers of the Law/Word who are just(tified), but the DOERS OF THE LAW shall be (remain) justified (into the end)” (Rom. 2:13/ Jam. 1:22). Only those who obey God’s Law/Word until the end of life or the return of Christ will be saved (Mat. 10:22). Where does this leave the 2,000,000,000+ “sinners saved by grace” whom Satan has deceived (Rev. 12:9)? “Come, let us reason together” says the Lord to each of us. When one reasons with God he knows that God is right and anything else, no matter how religious it may be, is wrong. The Institutional Church is wrong on numerous counts as God’s Word proves time and again. For this reason He commands that we “Come out of her and be ye separate (peculiar); touch not the unclean thing” (2 Cor. 6:17). Then, God says, He will be our God and we will be His people.

In order to join Jesus Christ in His Father’s kingdom, THE ONLY reason we have for living must be to live in obedience to the Lord. Otherwise we are living in vain. All other things of life are relatively irrelevant. L.J.