Go Up To Your Own Jerusalem

"He..said unto them, 'Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem'..." Luke 18:31

The devotion today is about each Christian having the same end goal of following God's perfect Will for their lives by going up to their own personal Jerusalem. As a follower of Christ we each have an individual journey to take on. The goal of a Christian is ultimately to follow God's Will. Just as Christ Jesus did. My readings state that Jesus kept on course. He did not tarry in villages that He was blessed in or hurry through those towns that cursed and persecuted Him. Christ sought God's guidance in His indisputable Will for the journey until the completion in Jerusalem. So we are all called to do. Our goal is not to be useful or to save the lost. It is to do God's will. Oswald Chambers stated " A missionary is usefuland he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord."
This is challenging and puzzling to some especially young Christians who are excited and have fresh passion for their new found faith. If the useful works we attempt in our Lord's name are not His will, they will not be fruitful. If we force ourselves and the Gospel on a soul that is not ready, a soul that God has not prepared for our testimony before our arrival, this soul may be lost and deaf to our voice. We must seek God's Will and no matter how much we do not understand it, we must follow the map He laid out for our individual journey to our own Jerusalem. Constant prayer and seeking the moment to moment guiding hand of our Lord God is essential. How will we know His Will if we do not ask? This is where the personal relationship and friendship with Christ comes in to play. If you never speak earnestly with your best friend here on earth, how would you call them friend? It is exactly the same and vastly more important in our friendship and communion with Christ.
Let us each day strive to be closer, listen more carefully, and strive to know the Will of God for our journey to Jerusalem.
Blessings to you and yours.