Life’s Purpose

Posted by Karah

Pause

Prepare your heart to hear from the Lord today. Listen to your favorite worship song, recite Scripture, read a psalm, pray, or simply sit in silence dwelling on His character.

Read Luke 4:14-21 in your Bible. In His hometown synagogue, Jesus was given the honor of reading from the prophet Isaiah. Then, Jesus declared that the text He had just read was about Him. Delve into verses 18-19.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,

because He has anointed Me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent Me

to proclaim freedom to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to set free the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

—Luke 4:18-19

Jesus’ declared that He is the Lord’s prophet, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

In the original Isaiah passage, this was the news that God was going to deliver the Jews from captivity in Babylon. How did Jesus accomplish these things in His earthly ministry? List a few examples.

How does sin oppress us? How did Jesus free us from that oppression?

Jesus was declaring that in Him, God was offering His grace and favor to the world. The people would have understood that Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah. Why would it have been hard for them to accept that the boy they’d watch grow up was the Messiah? Explain.

Respond

Jesus’ words to His parents in the temple when He was 12 show that He had understood His mission and purpose for a long time. But now, it was time to make it public.

Jesus knew why He had come and what God was calling Him to do. He understood His purpose. God has a purpose for your life, too: to know Him and play an active role in building His kingdom. What steps will you take to invest in that purpose this week? Record two in your journal.

Jesus was completely focused on obedience to His Father. Are you? What changes need to happen in your life so you can be? What affect would this kind of obedience have on your witness?

For further study, read Isaiah 61:1-4.

Behind the Story

Jesus stopped reading from Isaiah 61 in the middle of verse 2, ending the reading at the phrase “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Why did He stop there? Because this is exactly what His preaching proclaimed! The time had come for God’s grace to reveal itself in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. The very next phrase in Isaiah 61:2 “and the day of our God’s vengeance” refers to the second coming of Christ and His judgment of the world. So, Jesus read the part of Isaiah that was being fulfilled then, but held off on the part that would not be fulfilled until the time of judgment.

The Point

Jesus declared that He was the Messiah and that He would accomplish what God had planned for Him.

Posted in Devotions, Girls | Tagged Camp Crestridge for Girls, Reprinted from ec magazine. © 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Used by permission., Ridgecrest Summer Camps, Weekly Devotions