What Is God’s Purpose for My Life? The Sermon on the MountSample

Day 1: The Life of a Christian

The opening line of the Sermon on the Mount relays the setting and shows that Jesus was teaching to a large crowd but focused on his followers, who “came to him.”

The first blessings are called the Beatitudes; they are a guide to the blessings only God can provide that transcend our present circumstances. It can be tempting to brush past the difficult beatitudes and focus on our strengths.

Why is that? Which one sticks out as the most difficult for your heart? Is it meekness, poverty of spirit, mourning, purity of heart, the longing for righteousness?

Pray for the Lord to reveal conviction from the Beatitudes.

Next, Jesus talks about our place in the world, calling his followers salt and light.

Salt had two primary purposes in the ancient world. One was to add flavor, but the more important was to act as a preservative.

At a time when there was no electricity or refrigeration for most people, the only reliable way to keep meat from spoiling was to cure it with salt. That idea of acting as a preservative is what Jesus primarily has in mind.

How should that impact the way we see our purpose in this life? If our saltiness is meant to preserve the message of Christ and love in the world, how can you do that in your day-to-day life?

The purpose of the light and the city on the hill are much the same as the salt. God has called us to bring his kingdom to earth while not being drawn into the world’s darkness.

If we can learn to represent him to the lost without being influenced away from him, it enables us to live out the calling that resides at the heart of both the Beatitudes and the rest of the Sermon on the Mount.

That calling is summed up in Matthew 5:16: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Ask God to help you be obedient in character and in action this week, serving as salt and light to the world for his glory. Give up the things you cling to that prevent you from the Beatitudes’ blessing—like pride, impurity, apathy, and the like.

Hand those over to Jesus in prayer and ask for a renewed spirit of obedience and humility.