Jesus, in the Lord’s prayer, teaches us to pray, “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” He was our example of what it means to live in light of God’s kingdom and not our own. He says this in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” 

We live in a world that trains us to focus on and live for ourselves (our goals, our happiness, our time, our sexual ethic, our glory, etc.) But God has an agenda for us. He has plans for us that are for our good, to give us a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11) He has prepared works for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10) He has fruit he wants to grow in us and sharp edges that need to be chiseled off, so that others can see him in us. His will for us is higher and greater than our will, and lifts us out of the dead-end pit of self-absorption and lets us participate with him in the redemption of the world around us!

This is something we can easily forget as we navigate our little individual world! So as we come to the word daily, we put our wills (our bodies, our all) on the altar and remind ourselves that it is God’s kingdom we are here for, not our own. We don’t study the word simply for knowledge, but to allow him to transform us through it! As we read, we listen for what the Holy Spirit is saying to us, asking him to lead and guide us in his perfect will for our lives.