A religious leader once asked Jesus what was the most important commandment of all (Matthew 22:34-40). His reply was to “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and mind.” He went on to say that the second greatest commandment was to love everyone else as much as we love ourselves. This is the essence of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Our lives are to be consumed with Him, and the way we express that is by giving the same love He has given us to everyone we meet. These are really the only “rules” required to be a disciple of Jesus. If we live in this way, we can be assured that we are living in the will of God.
Daily Life
Dead Man
Followers of Christ have been given new life. What once was rotting and decaying inside of us has been renewed. Without God, we are dead inside, with no hope of resuscitation. The Bible teaches that we are all born dead because of sin. We may not have sinned yet, but because of the sins of our parents, that nature is passed on genetically. We are predisposed to sin, and therefore predisposed to die. There is only one cure, and that is the blood of Jesus. Without it, we are destined to begin dying from the day we are born. By putting our faith in Jesus and dedicating our lives to following Him, we are covered in the blood of His sacrifice which removes the dead things inside of us and replaces them with the life, love, and light of God.
Focus on God
We are so easily distracted by the cares and pleasures of this world. Knowing he is defeated, Satan has brilliantly crafted a strategy that is making certain that he doesn’t go down alone. His entire purpose is to thwart the plans of God, delay his own inevitable demise, and keep you and me as far away from God as possible. He accomplishes this through altering our focus. As followers of Jesus, our focus should always be on two things: God Himself and serving others in His name. Everything else in life will make sense if we are keeping our focus solely on these two areas.
Fear Sin not Death
I love the following quote from A.W. Tozer; he said, “Not death, but sin, should be our great fear”. Every so often, surveys are done asking people what their greatest fears are. Death is always high on the list, and public speaking usually tops it. You’ll also see things like heights, snakes, and being confined in a small space. Not once have I ever seen sin on any poll results. Apparently sin is nothing to be afraid of in the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens. Yet sin is the only thing that can keep us from spending all of eternity with the loving God who breathed life into our very souls.
Our Majestic God
My wife and I recently had the opportunity to spend some time in the mountains. It was the first time in a very long time I’ve experienced the beauty of God’s creation in that setting. One cannot help but be in awe of the Creator when you stare up at trees that are impossibly tall and marvel at the seemingly infinite number of them congregating together. As my wife noted, it made knowing the number of hairs on your head easy compared to the sheer volume of trees we were witnessing. Perhaps it was all the more impressive for a city dweller like myself, but realizing God knows the number of trees and watches over every creature and critter inhabiting those mountains was nothing short of breath-taking.