On this final day of our 21-day journey, we conclude with some of the last words Jesus spoke before he was crucified. These words reveal the purpose of his life on earth and provide a road map for our purpose too.
A man who chooses the Jesus script is…
A man who equates success with doing the will of his Father in heaven.
Each of us may have different pictures of earthly success, but we all want meaning and purpose in our lives. The night before he was to die, Jesus gathered a few of his disciples to pray. He knew what was about to happen to him. Jesus’s words to them reflect his clarity of purpose, despite the cost. Here’s Matthew’s account of what occurred.
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
—Matthew 26:36–46
Jesus prayed, “Father, if it is possible, let this suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Jesus defined success in life as doing the will of his Father, not his own. If we are to follow Jesus, we must similarly deny ourselves and follow him, even when the cost is great. You won’t always get it right, but your weakest moments provide the opportunity to acknowledge your need for help. Those moments help us depend on the Holy Spirit to be our strength.
In conclusion, while we are not all the same, the script we are to follow is. It’s a script that transcends interest, personality, and temperament. It's the script modeled by our Savior. Following the Jesus script will make us all better men because it will make us like our Savior and King. And everyone around you, especially your sons and daughters, will be impacted by this script you follow. They’ll see a reflection of Jesus in you, and they’ll see:
- A man who forgives, regardless, without being asked
- A man who understands that lust commoditizes a woman
- A man who leaves revenge in God’s capable hands
- A man who publicly celebrates the success of other men
- A man who is not owned by his possessions
- A man who stands at the funeral of a friend and weeps openly
- A man who stops to help someone who can’t return the favor
- A man who refuses to return evil for evil but looks for an opportunity to return good for evil
- A man who equates greatness with elevating others rather than himself
- A man who is more concerned with controlling himself than controlling the people around him
- A man who knows when it’s time to turn over tables and when it’s time to turn the other cheek
- A man who is more inclined to defend the rights of others than his own
- A man who will speak the truth regardless of the consequences
- A man who is angered by the mistreatment of others
- A man who isn’t overly troubled by trouble
- A man who ends each day with a clear conscience
- A man who is willing to bring the fight to his two primary enemies every day: his appetites and insecurities
- A man who equates success with doing the will of his Father in heaven
That’s the Jesus script for men.
