WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DECEMBER 17, 2021
TOPIC: SERVE GOD’S PURPOSE IN YOUR GENERATION
BY T. O. BANSO
“For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was buried among his fathers and experienced decay [in the grave]” (Acts 13:36 Amplified Bible).
Every human being belongs to a generation. Nobody is immortal on earth. Everyone will live for a certain number of years and after then die. It is the lot of every human being. Otherwise, your fore-parents should still be alive! This would have created unimaginable multiple problems including population explosion and its allied consequences.
But human beings die at old age and sadly, sometimes, in their youth. Whichever way, death terminates their continued existence on earth. Everyone will die one day if the rapture has not taken place. Hebrews 9:27 says it is appointed for men to die once but after this the judgment.
Death is not something that human beings should worry so much about but many do. What should be of paramount concern to us is how we live our lives before death comes. Our focus should be to live for the purpose God created us on earth. Unfortunately, this is hardly the concern of many people. Forgetting that they are not here on earth by their own design, they live to pursue their selfish agenda without asking God about His will for them or doing it.
When you die, what will matter is not whether or not you were a hero or celebrity on earth. What will matter is whether or not you lived your life according to God’s will. At that time, it will be too late. The truth is that before some people die, they begin to realize the futility of all their pursuits on earth outside the will of God for them. They begin to see that what they cherished so much in years past has become useless. The attention and accolades they used to receive from numerous people in the past could have disappeared. Those who used to celebrate them may no longer care if they exist. As the Preacher puts it, vanity of vanities, all is vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2; 12:8).
How are you living your life in your generation? The apostle Paul said of David, “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption” (Acts 13:36 New King James Version). Paul was establishing that David was not talking about himself in Psalm 16:10, which Paul referred to because he died and his body saw corruption or decayed. He never rose again. Paul said this scripture was referring to Jesus Christ whom God raised up from the dead and His body did not see corruption.
David was not a king indefinitely. He died one day, was buried and his body decayed. This is the portion of everybody. But the Bible says something significant about David: he served his own generation by the will of God (New King James Version).
Let’s look at that phrase in the way other Bible translations render the verse. “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was buried among his fathers and experienced decay [in the grave]” (Acts 13:36 Amplified Bible). Take note of this: David served the purpose of God in his own generation.
The New Living Translation says, “After David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed.” The Revised Standard Version says a similar thing. “For David, after he had served the counsel of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption.” Also, the Twentieth Century New Testament says, “David, after obediently doing God’s will in his own time, ‘fell asleep and was laid by the side of his ancestors, and did undergo corruption.”
David served the purpose of God in his generation; he obediently did God’s will in his time. This is how you should live too. David said, “I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8 New King James Version). Our purpose on earth is not to become celebrities but to do the will of God. The Preacher puts it succinctly: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is man’s all” (Ecclesiastes 12:13 King James Version).
You will die one day. But will it be said of you that you obediently did God’s will in your time or served the purpose of God or did His will in your generation? Remember that God chose David to replace Saul as king because He had found a man after His own heart who would do His will. Acts 13:22 puts it this way, “And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will’” (New King James Version).
By serving the purpose of God in his generation, it means that David governed the people as the king according to the will of God. Both the sinner and the wicked will die but the difference is how each person lived his life or what he lived for. 1 King 2:10 says, “So David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David” (New King James Version). Peter, in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, said, “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day” (Acts 2:29 New King James Version).
It was not strange that David died. He must die and his body must decay. God told him before his death, “And it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, when you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom” (1 Chronicles 17:11 New King James Version).
The Bible also records that Kings Solomon, Rehoboam, Jehoshaphat, and Uzziah all rested with their fathers, and were buried with them (2 Chronicles 9:31; 12:16; 21:1; 26:23). All other kings also died. Their bodies decayed. But the most important thing is how they lived their lives. Did they serve the purpose or will of God in their generations? You will join your ancestors one day, but before then, are you serving the purpose of God in your generation?
Jesus is our perfect example. He served the purpose of God in His generation. He was committed to doing the will of God. “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work’” (John 4:34 New King James Version). He told His disciples, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth” (Mark 1:38 New King James Version). Luke 4:43 records a similar statement.
Jesus lived and died for the purpose of God. Speaking about the supreme sacrifice He would pay for the salvation of humanity by dying on the cross, Jesus said, “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (John 10:18 New King James Version). In other words, He freely gave His life, not that He was coerced.
Doing the will of God was His devotion. He said in John 12:27, “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour” (New King James Version). Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane was: “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39 New King James Version). In verse 42, He also prayed that if the cup could not pass away from Him unless He drank it, the will of God should be done. He said the same prayer the third time.
Emulate Jesus Christ. Serve the purpose or do the will of God in your generation. He said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21 New King James Version). He also said whoever did the will of His Father in heaven was His brother, sister, and mother (Matthew 12:50).
Serve the purpose of God in your generation. Do God’s will – the general will of God written in the Bible and the specific will of God for your life revealed by the Holy Spirit. Find out the two and do them. “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come — In the volume of the book it is written of Me — To do Your will, O God’” (Hebrews 10:7 New King James Version). This world is fading away, along with everything it craves but if you do the will of God, you will live forever (1 John 2:17).
1 Corinthians 7:31 says those who use this world should not misuse it for the form of this world is passing away. Don’t get carried away with this world. You’re a stranger and pilgrim on earth; you’re a citizen of heaven, not of this earth (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11; Philippians 3:20). Therefore, set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2). Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5).
Don’t live for yourself; live for God. Serve God’s purpose in your generation.
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: Father, I thank you for Your purpose for my life. Holy Spirit, help me to discover and fulfil God’s purpose for my life. My life shall not deviate from the purpose of God. I will serve the purpose of God in my generation in Jesus’ name. I will not waste my life, pursuing vanities; I will become all God wants me to be in Jesus’ name.
(For over 800 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
