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Get Real November 6 Devotional

by David Joynt on November 06, 2024


1 PETER 2:5 | 5 like living stones let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

 PSALM 50:14 | 14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.

PSALM 51: 17 | 17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

What are the “sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” which are offered by all the members of an authentic Christian community? What were once animal sacrifices, offered in blood, now have become spiritual and moral offerings.

 

Even in the Old Testament contrition, prayers, praise and thanksgiving, were seen as sacrifices, as we read in Psalm 50:14 and Psalm 51:17. These actions were always possible and highly recommended for all God’s children. Once Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice, He ended blood sacrifices forever, but He opened up new possibilities for others’ acts of devotion. Practical forms of service, moments of generosity, kindness, and witness—these become holy offerings, sacred to God.

 

Make an acceptable sacrifice today.

 

 

Gracious God,

You have ordained Your people for priestly duty! May Your holiness pervade my life today.

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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