Jesus Christ seems to me to have been one of the most focused, intentional people who truly lived out his life from his true self. The names others called him – Savior, Messiah, Lord, Teacher, Son of God – identified who he was and what his mission in life was.

In John 17, Jesus was on the way to the cross, in the Upper Room with the disciples, when he revealed his life’s purpose in a prayer, “I know You… and I have made You known to them.” The Message puts it this way, “Righteous Father, I have known You and these disciples know that You sent me on this mission. I have made Your very being known to them – who You are and what You do.”

Laurie Beth Jones in “Jesus, CEO” writes:

“Jesus knew his mission statement, and he did not deviate from it. He declared that his mission was, in essence, to teach people about a better way of life. He saw himself as a teacher and a healer.

An ancient adage says “If you want to defeat them, distract them.” In the wilderness Jesus was given several “business opportunities” that did not relate to his mission.

Each of these opportunities was related to talents that Jesus has, and used, in some form or another during his tenure. But he resisted them because they did not fit his mission statement.

Pause for a moment and consider the things Jesus did not do. Here is someone endowed with limitless power from on high. He could have done literally anything. Yet he did not build a temple or a synagogue. He did not write or distribute books. He did not even heal all the sick people in the world. He did not go down to the graveyards and raise everyone from the dead. He did not build shopping malls. His mission was very specific.

Jesus stuck to his mission.”

Do you know your personal mission statement? Until we know our mission we will never know if we have accomplished what God desires for us!