Gospel
BEWARE OF DIVERSION!
Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
John 6:14-15;
It’s so easy for the world to lead a man in a direction that is totally opposite the path the Almighty God had designed for him. For a man that is not sure, or totally committed to God’s foreordained purpose, it’s not difficult for people, situations and circumstances to force his feet into a path that is totally outside of God’s plan for his life. According to the scripture quoted above, this exactly was what the people attempted to achieve with Jesus during His earthly days. The multitude had witnessed a number of miracles Jesus performed, especially the miracles of divine provisions of bread, and as a result developed great desire in making Him a king. The people’s passion to make Jesus a king was so strong that they actually attempted to take Him by force; this obviously was to pursue their own agenda of securing their selfish interests and nothing more. The people attempted to deviously hijack the destiny of Jesus.
Looking from the surface, the offer to make Jesus a king would appear a brilliant and beautiful idea. Considering the honour, riches, wealth, privileges, majesty and dignity which go with kingship, the offer, to anyone, would appear an opportunity too great to miss! In fact, looking at the bigger picture of God’s purpose, which provides that Jesus would reign as King, jumping at conclusion that this may be the fulfillment was a possibility. However, Jesus, by accurate discernment knew that the offer was totally outside of God’s divine counsel and purpose for His life. Jesus knew that He would reign as King, but not an earthly king that the people attempted to make out of Him; Jesus knew that He would reign, not just as a king over Nazareth or Jerusalem, but as The King over the whole world and God’s creations. Jesus was equally sure that He would reign as King, but certainly not through the man-made route which the people were out to promote.
Considering the way and manner the people pursued their agenda of making Jesus a king, one cannot but wonder whose bidding they were out to do! The people’s plan to make Jesus a king was actually a subtle attempt by the devil to divert Him from the path of fulfillment of God’s divine purpose. It’s apparent the scripts had been carefully written in the pit of hell, but the devil needed human agents to actively act the scripts to cunningly divert Jesus, the begotten son of God, from the eternal purpose for which He was born. Before His birth, many prophecies had gone ahead about the purpose and divine assignment Jesus would accomplish on earth. The scripture in Matthew 1:21 says ‘And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins’. By this scripture, God had clearly revealed the singular purpose for which Jesus was born, but the host of darkness, in an attempt to frustrate God’s purpose, attempted to divert His destiny. Behind the scene was the major actor – the devil, who wanted to hijack the destiny of the begotten Son of God.
Although the earthly days of Jesus Christ was filled with many divine acts such as miracles, healings, deliverance and signs and wonders, but it’s important to state that these were not the major reasons He was born; after all, there were godly men and prophets before Christ, through whom God wrought miracles, healings and signs and wonders, so the major reason God sent His son couldn’t have been just signs and wonders or miracles, but to be the sole author of salvation of mankind through shedding of His blood for atonement of sin, and resurrection for newness of life. It was this singular eternal purpose that the devil was actually targeting, and he was prepared to make use of the people to achieve that which had been carefully crafted by the forces of darkness.
If the people had succeeded in carrying out their scheme to make Jesus a king, God’s eternal purpose for Him to be the Author and Finisher of salvation for mankind would have been totally defeated. If Jesus had traveled in the path the people set for Him, He would have simply gone down in history as another ‘great prophet’, or ‘mighty king’ or ‘great man’, completely out of God’s original plan and purpose. Jesus did not jump at the offer that looked like an opportunity, but quietly walked away from the people that the devil has raised to divert Him from the path of God’s purpose.
Becoming a king might indeed appear like a beautiful thing, but if critically examined, it would be extremely shocking to discover the devil’s ultimate plan, the kind of man he subtly wanted to make of out Jesus. The scripture paints the picture of an earthly king: ‘And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants’. 1Samuel 8:10-17. If the people had succeeded in their plot to establish Jesus as king, his end would have been as described in the above scripture! This clearly depicts the picture of what satan - destiny hijacker is out to achieve.
It’s not every opportunity that is from God! What appears has a great opportunity to you might just be satan’s plot to divert your destiny. The devil has not stopped pursuing his hidden agenda of diverting and hijacking the destinies of God’s children. Many people have been led away from God’s original purpose for their lives to pursue some other things which appear very attractive, compelling, and reasonable to them or the people around. There are so many ways the devil attempts to divert the destiny of God’s children especially those who are unsure and unstable. If you do not know where you’re headed, the world will not hesitate in leading you in the wrong direction. No one can be found acceptable to God pursuing that which is outside of heaven’s agenda for his or her life, no matter how attractive or how celebrated that venture might appear before men. If a man runs in a path that God did not set for him, there’s no way he can ever be what God destined him to be. This is the reason believers and God’s servants must be sensitive and careful when people and situations present offers which appear like great opportunities, but when critically examined, are devil’s ploy to lead them away from fulfillment of God’s original purpose.
The battle cry of the enemy is to divert you from the original purpose of God for your life. The possibility of diversion of your destiny is high if you’re the type that compares yourself or your ministry with others. We need to realize that God never judges or measures us against the achievements of other people; the only basis of God’s assessment for our lives is against what He has destined us to be and what He has crafted us to do. Satan is never bothered that you’re doing well, successful, flourishing and advancing in what you’re doing as long as it is not what God designed you to do. The devil is only threatened when you become exactly what God has destined you to be!
At one point or the other in our lives we would be faced with the hard task of choosing either to be ‘a king’ or ‘the saviour’. Just as the devil attempted to divert the destiny of Jesus Christ from being the Saviour of the world, to being an earthly king, satan is still in the business of diversion of destinies of God’s children. From what Paul Apostle said in 2Timothy 4:7 ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith…’, it’s clear that every one of us has a course, a track, a path of destiny that must be accurately maintained and kept to, if we must end well. What are you pursuing at the moment? What are you investing your time, energy, resources and life on at the moment? Are you sure you’re still on track? Are you sure you’ve not suffered diversion in the original purpose of God for your life? Have you not abandoned your original calling to pursue something else that appears attractive, acceptable and celebrated by men? There’s critical need to reappraise our lives to be sure we’re on track. In case you’ve suffered diversion, it’s not too late to retrace your steps back, the Lord’s coming is at hand!
Maranatha!
Ezekiel Olukolajo
email: [email protected]
Ezekiel Olukolajo
email: [email protected]
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