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Pastor Joynt's Devotionals

in The Other Jesus

The Other Jesus, Part 2, Week 2, Day 4

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LUKE 9:59

To another he said, “Follow Me!.” But he said, “Lord, let me go bury my father.”

Commitment anxiety is a common problem in relationships. Freedom is falsely understood as unlimited, unconstrained choices. But what happens when we actually choose something or someone? We limit our choices, of course, but we know a deeper freedom by doing so. When you fall in love, you must make sacrifices of time and energy, and you must the put the needs and desires of your beloved above your own, but these sacrifices and restrictions are not a burden hard to embrace, because they deepen the rewards of love.

This man’s father has not just died on the day he is asked to follow Jesus, or he’d be involved in the burial process. He is asking for an unlimited furlough until his father’s life is over and wants to keep his discipleship choice open until that indefinite moment. Meanwhile, he’ll miss the once in history work of the Son of Man and the events that become the hinge of history and the heart of the disciples’ witness.

PRAYER

Gracious God, Focus my heart on your will and ways. Do not let me push you aside as a later agenda item. Draw me close and let me find my freedom in commitment. Give time, today, a sense of urgency as I seek to fulfill your purpose. Amen.

 

Posted by David Joynt with
Tags: commitment, connection, disciples, teaching
in The Other Jesus

The Other Jesus, Part 2, Week 2, Day 3

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LUKE 9:58

And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

There is no false advertising in the Gospels. Jesus never does a “bait and switch” maneuver, drawing people in with a false promise only to disappoint them with a lesser reality. In fact, he often tells people who went to join him to pause and count the cost of their decision. Here Jesus is emphasizing the possible cost of loyalty to him. If he himself, the Son of Man, is essentially itinerant and homeless, must we not be ready also to suffer need and want, to sacrifice comfort and security?

Normally, a home will be the location for the exercise of our duties to parents and a place to show and know the affection of family and friends. This is part of God’s blessing to us as his children. But all relationships and possessions are conditioned by our greatest loyalty—to him who is our Lord and Sovereign.

PRAYER

Gracious God, I surrender all: goods, kindred and reputation; heart, soul, body, and mind; time and treasure and talent. Use all I own and all I have and all my relationships for your glory. Amen.

 

Posted by David Joynt with
Tags: home, loyalty, surrender

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