Do you ever think that we’re getting this whole thing wrong? We know our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (Isaiah 43:6-7), but that isn’t the driving force for most of our lives. We don’t wake up thinking about God and how we can glorify Him. And if we do, the busyness and distractions of this world soon overwhelm and overrule our intentions.
The Apostle Paul said whatever we do, we should do for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). That requires a constant focus on Jesus, but our preoccupation is instead with ourselves. We know in our hearts this life isn’t about us, but we’ve bought into the ways of the world to the point we’ve forgotten the point of it all.
When the disciples questioned Jesus why they couldn’t cast the demon out of a boy (Matthew 17:14-21), He told them “…this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.” We see Jesus getting alone to pray as a regular rhythm in His life (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; Luke 6:12; Matthew 14:23). His recognition of the need to always be in sync with the Father drove Him to constant communication with Him. Can we say the same? We cannot know and glorify God unless we are prioritizing prayer every day. And until that is our rhythm as well, the power of Christ will not manifest in us in all its power. Unless prayer and fasting characterize our lives, we will be powerless to become the person God intends us to be.
In the beginning, our job was to tend to God’s creation by day and walk with the Lord each evening (Genesis 2:15; Genesis 3:8). Care for and marvel at His creation by day, then enjoying time with Him at night was the original order of life. The glory of God was the point of every moment. We don’t live like this anymore! We’ve allowed our desires and our agenda to override enjoying the Lord and His magnificent creation. The chief aim of our life is no longer to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, but to forget about God and seek earthly pleasure forever (2 Timothy 3:2-4). This is the exact plan of Satan, and as long as we’re living this way, we are living a life in step with Hell, not Heaven (Matthew 12:30).
If we’re going to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, we need to make some changes. We must make Him the focus of our every waking moment. Can you imagine how amazing life would be if we would do that? What if “nothing is more important than Jesus” wasn’t just something we said, but the reality of the way we lived? My heart aches for that. How about yours? After all, that is the life God designed us to live. That is a life that would never leave us ashamed. In our fallen state, I know we won’t be able to live every single moment of our life like this. But shouldn’t we at least try? Shouldn’t we at least be making this true more than we are today? There is no higher call than to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29; 1 Peter1:14-15). We’ve got work to do.