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Your Ultimate Goal
Daniel 9:3
"And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:"
Let me ask you a question, and before you read any further I want you to write your answer down on a piece of paper. What is your ultimate goal in life? When you look at the end of your life, what is it that you want to have accomplished?
The goals of people are as diverse as their personalities. It is no doubt that many have a goal of success. When you look at the amount of success books in today's society, you will understand that people want to succeed. What they want to succeed at is certainly different, but they want to succeed. There are pastors whose ultimate goal is to have a large church. Of course, there is nothing wrong with having a large church. There are many people whose goal it is to be wealthy. There are some whose goal is to move up the corporate ladder. There are others whose goal is to be famous in society. Then there are some whose goal is to have a happy family, or a successful marriage. Of course, these things I just mentioned are a few of the goals that many people have.
However, when you look at Daniel's life, he did not seek any of these things. The verse above says, "And I set my face unto the Lord God,..." Daniel's ultimate goal in life was to know God. He spent his life seeking the face of God. He did not seek money or position, he sought God. He did not seek fame or recognition, he sought God. He did not seek success or religious achievement, he sought God. The only thing that really mattered to Daniel was to get to know God. He was so determined to know God that he fasted and prayed just so he could know Him. Yet, you may wonder if this desire to seek God allowed him to "succeed" in life. Yes, it did! Though he did not seek position, he became the second in command in Babylon. He did not seek recognition, but certainly he was a household name around the world as Babylon was the world power in his day. He did not seek riches, yet I would imagine his position allowed him to be financially set for life. All of this happened because his ultimate goal in life was to know God.
I asked you at the beginning of this devotional to write down your ultimate goal in life. Now let me ask you this, was your goal to know God? If you have anything else written down on that piece of paper, then you have the wrong motive for your life. You must understand that knowing God will allow you to accomplish many of the things that people desire. However, seeking God should be your ultimate goal in life. When you get to know God, He will give you the wisdom to succeed in life. Though your purpose in knowing God should not be so that you can succeed in life, yet knowing God will make these things happen.
Christian, it is time to refocus your purpose and ultimate goal in life. Don't let the world's focus be your focus. Make your focus in life to know God. Set your face to seek God. Make your ultimate desire in life to know God as Daniel knew Him. You will find that when you get to know God, that He will give you wisdom to do what is right in every area of life. You cannot know God without Him influencing every area of your life. When God influences every area of your life, then you will find that His influence will cause every area to get better. Start your quest today to know God. Make that your ultimate goal.