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Divine Imperatives August 14 Devotional

by David Joynt on August 14, 2023


MATTHEW 9:9 | 9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

 

Notice the implications of Jesus’ call to follow. It is a call to partnership with clear precedence. To follow, we must give up the lead in our lives. We become pupils intent on understanding and imitating our Teacher. We become servants of a singular Master. We accept the will of a new sovereign as His subjects. His commands are not suggestions, His directions are not options, His judgements are final, and His perspectives are obligatory.

 

Thirteen times Jesus tells someone to follow Him in the gospels. Has He asked you to do so? How did you know?

 

 

Gracious God,

Your wisdom is deeper than mine. Your heart is wider too. Help me to learn a true submission and there let me find freedom.

Amen.

 

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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