Daily Devotional for May 11, 2014

Luke 14:33
“Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.

Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson.  Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO.  All rights reserved.

In her book Just Give Me Jesus, author Anne Graham Lotz describes Jesus’ presence at the tomb of his dear friend Lazarus.  She notes that Jesus wept in grief…a reminder of how deeply He cares about all that we are experiencing and weeps with us when we are hurting.  She also recalls that Jesus had the stone rolled away.  She makes the point that Jesus did not do this personally - although He surely could have commanded the stone to be moved, and it would have been so!  Jesus had this done by others - many of whom protested.  Even Lazarus’ sister Martha objected, saying that after four days in the tomb, the body would smell to high heavens!  Still, Jesus had the stone rolled away, and He called for Lazarus to come forth.  And Lazarus did exactly that!

Graham-Lotz makes the point that often, we are like Martha…so “worried about the smell”, or what someone will think...concerned over what we might have to “give up”…busy holding onto old grudges or past mistakes…unwilling to compromise or concede…and we miss the bigger picture.  And the end result is catastrophic, because we miss Jesus!

We have to be willing to literally “lose everything in order to gain the world”…because without Jesus, nothing else really matters.  I know that is hard for us to imagine.  We hold many people, places, things and plans so very dear.  But the hard reality is that none of these can save us from sin…without Jesus, none of us is destined for an eternity in heaven.  You can have all of the earthly love and affection, material wealth, popularity and success, and what feels like pure joy that you can possibly muster.  But if you don’t have Jesus, it’s all worthless.

Graham-Lotz asks the question, “What ‘stone’ do you need to roll back today?”  And this is my question for us.  What have we made more important than Jesus?  What would we part with for Him…how far are we willing to go to have Him in our lives?  Isn’t it time we figured this out?  Will this be the day that you “roll away the stones” in your life and truly find God?  Don’t you think it should be?

©2014 Debbie Robus