Dreaming With a Purpose
Monday, January 18
Dreaming With a Purpose
Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. Genesis 28:10, 11
Although today is the day we set aside to remember him, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. Dr. King was an American Baptist minister who is famously known for being the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement. Throughout this movement Dr. King ruffled the feathers of the American South. It was in 1963, during the March on Washington, Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Following his death many marched and continued to march until this day proclaiming that his dream was also their dream.
In the Old Testament God often spoke to people through dreams. In Genesis 37, Jacob had a dream, which held promises. The first promise was affirmation of a promise given to his grandfather, Abraham, that God would give him land and descendants through whom all the peoples of the earth would be blessed. The second promise was a personal one. Despite the fact that he was running away from home God promised Jacob that He would be with him, watch over him wherever he journeyed and eventually bring him back to the promised land.
People who have a “dream,” both fulfil their dream and bring it into reality or the vision dies because they have lost sight of a purpose. We might say people with a dream are people with a destiny, but then the opposite is also sadly true. People living with a purpose know why they are here – they know God’s purpose for their life and they make the choice to fulfil it whatever the cost or they choose to seek Him to discover how to live out His plan.
God’s purposes are kingdom purposes. It was for the salvation of the whole world Jesus died. The desire in His heart is that all peoples should experience the freedom that He alone can give. We are ambassadors for Christ and are called to have a Christ like dream, to keep the dream alive and to fulfil the dream. By His grace we can do it.