Day 32 of 40-Day Devotions 2020

TabletalkReader     March 5, 2020 in Religion 85 Subscribers Subscribe


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(From our church-wide devotion book at Pinedale Christian Church, "You 2.0”)

It’s all about connections, right? That has always been the secret to my success—know the right people, study at the right schools, have the right pedigree, follow the right rules, be good at the right things. In fact, I would say that connection is still the best tool I have. But my understanding of connection changed one day on the road to Damascus.

In my former life, my status was almost unparalleled. I came from the right stock – my people were God’s chosen. My family background was from among the most faithful of tribes. I was a Roman citizen by birth. All legal precepts and traditions required by Yahweh I kept flawlessly. I was trained by the spiritual and intellectual elite. I had membership in the most exclusive groups. No one could dispute the purity of my character, and my behavior was exemplary. I was the model for what a perfect Jew should be. To cap it all off—I was absolutely on fire for accomplishing what I thought was God’s will.

And then I met Jesus.

It cannot be denied that all of humanity shares a common desire to belong-to be part of something other than ourselves; to be accepted; to be valued and respected. We want to have status among our family, friends, peers, and fellow countrymen. All of us—the high- born and the lowly and everyone in between—seek love, recognition, praise, even for greatness and renown.
I was no different. The truth is that I bought into this quest whole-heartedly. My star was rising, and it seemed like nothing could hold me back.

Maybe that’s why God decided to intervene so drastically in my life. I was completely invested in the world’s value system – so much so that it was nearly incomprehensible to me that there would be any other way to live.
When the glory of Jesus struck me down that day, at first, I didn’t realize who was speaking to me. I knew something of importance was happening, but I had no idea what to expect when I asked the question, “Who are you, Lord?” His answer turnedmy whole world upside down. At that moment, everything that had previously held priority in my life began crumbling into a pile of rubble.

From the moment I acknowledged Jesus as Lord God, a restructuring of my world became necessary. To be honest, it may have been easier for me to see this change than those around me. My former associates could barely comprehend my sudden and dramatic shift of allegiance to the “imposter” that I had been fighting against so passionately. The Believers were still so suspicious of me that I needed help from Ananias – who himself received a special vision from God before he would vouch for me. After years of living in the comfort of all my “connections,” it now seemed like I had no group to belong to at all!

Years later I would write about what this meant to me in my letter to the church in Philippi: “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ...”

My not-so-secret secret is that nothing else matters as much as Jesus does. Because of His love for me, I am imbued with infinite value to the Father. When I do right, it is under His influence. When I do wrong, I can receive His forgiveness. My citizenship is in His Kingdom—a kingdom that will never end. Perfect love, joy, and peace are available to me because I belong to Him. And all my efforts now are concerned with how I can share Him with every single person I encounter. It is the most fulfilling, pure, and right way to direct my life’s work— not work that earns me anything, but work that becomes a living thank you to the One whose name I wear.

How about you? Do you wear His name? Have you taken stock of everything in your life and counted everything as loss (literally, “trash”) compared to knowing Jesus? People all around us search for meaning and connection in millions of places—we ourselves have done the same. Yet when we do, we always seemed to come away sorely disappointed or, at best, half- fulfilled. To be honest, many of us still try to straddle both worlds, attempting to find ultimate satisfaction in people and places and achievements that can never truly satisfy. Connecting with Jesus and finding your identity in Him is the best decision you’ll ever make, and the benefits of this connection last eternally!

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