Begin with two minutes of stillness and silence before God.
No funny stories today. We must get right into it. No anecdote seems to adequately convey the message that must be extrapolated. As I write this devotional, it’s from the comfort of my home, cooled precisely to 69 degrees, while I stare out the window at my beautiful fenced-in yard. No fear of armed hostiles kicking my door in and purging the world of my existence because of the words I write. Am I blessed? Yes, one million percent. Not because of the vehicles we own, the house we have, the jobs we work, or even the people surrounding my family. I am blessed because of Jesus. Do I deserve the life I have been given? Not even for a second. Am I grateful for life period? Absolutely! None of the aforementioned things is a bad thing. But do they define me? I hope not. My hope is that my life is defined by the choices I make and that those choices are guided strictly on the basis of what Jesus Christ has done for me. Here’s the problem. The very essence of sin. Do you know what the essence of sin is?
You see, in the garden, the serpent never tries to persuade Adam and Eve that God doesn’t exist. He doesn’t get into an apologetical debate with them. He merely convinces them that they know better than God. The essence of sin, if you think about it, is the belief that we know better than God or we want to BE God. Do we want to rule the universe and be all-knowing and all-powerful? I don’t think that’s it. I think we want to be the God of our lives. We make our decisions and pave our own way. Just as in the garden, we are not capable of that responsibility, and yet, we choose, so often, to live our lives that way. So even as believers and followers of Christ, we can make this life about our own pursuits with a little Jesus sprinkled in there. It’s easy to seek God when you’re at the bottom of the barrel. Do we seek Him and his will for our lives on the mountain top, though?
In John 12:25, Jesus says, “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.” Sounds radical and weird, and what the heck does that even mean? What happens to your life doesn’t matter. If people like you or hate you, it doesn’t matter. If you have everything in the world or nothing at all, it doesn’t matter. If you are famous or unheard of, it doesn’t matter. So, what matters? Christ died on a cross. For us. So, what does that mean for us? Following Jesus is not just enduring the things of this life, but making a choice to follow him. John 12:26 says, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me.” Where to? Jesus is moving in the Garden of Gethsemane and toward the cross. In verse 27, it says Jesus’ soul has become troubled. Jesus is filled with the contemplation of taking on the wrath of God for the sins of the world, which caused revulsion in the sinless Savior. Now we are not exactly filled with the same levels of anxiety and horror as Jesus preparing for the cross, but as Christ followers, we are called to contemplate crossroads that could interfere with our choosing to follow Christ. Just as Jesus went to the cross, we must also go there to put these things to death. Matthew 16:24 says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” There was one thing that happened on the cross. Death. We carry it to be at the ready to put anything to death that takes our focus off of Him, and also as a beacon to the world to show the world what transpired on it. The greatest act of love to ever take place. Thank you, God, for the cross.
Take two minutes to reflect in silence.