August 24, 2024 Devo

I just started a new series at church on the life of Joseph called “Divine Destiny.” It’s a series about following the path of God’s destiny for our lives and the pitfalls and obstacles we have to overcome. One of the things I love about the story of Joseph is that after God gave him the dreams about who he was and what God was going to do in his life, Joseph held onto that. The path was longer than he thought, and more difficult. But one thing Joseph didn’t do: He didn’t let anyone talk him out of who he was. Neither his brother’s jealousy nor his father’s doubts swayed him. God had defined him. He stood on that.
So did Jesus. Jesus knew who He was. He knew what He had come to do. God had a destiny and an identity for Him. And He was not going to depart from that. There were people who wanted Him to be the Magician. There were people who wanted Him to be the Chief Rabbi. Here we find Jesus being pursued by thousands of people to be their king. That’s pretty heady stuff for most of us. People cheering for you. Crowds telling you how great you are. People telling you that they’ll follow you to the ends of the earth. Who could resist being THAT GUY? Jesus. When you know who you are and what God has called you to, the opinion of the crowd doesn’t matter. You’re living for The One.
Just a heart check, but how much are you letting the people around you define YOU? Are you trying to play the role that THEY want you to play? Are you trying to be the person THEY want you to be? Do you find yourself sometimes compromising who you know you want to be to fit in a little better or be liked a little more? Jesus refused to let people define Him even when they wanted to crown Him king. That’s because Jesus knew that even without their approval, He was already royalty. So are you. That’s God’s Word for you today.