PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Matthew 7:24–27
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
CONSIDER THIS
For those of us who grew up using an archaic piece of machinery called a typewriter, we can fully appreciate the brilliant advancements in technology we have called shortcuts. These shortcuts are the keys for a computer that allow you to delete or copy or undo what you just did with a simple keystroke. When I learned how to use a typewriter (yes there were actual classes for that) we had to practice over and over again to increase our efficiency and reduce our mistakes. When a mistake was made or we wanted to undo what we just did, we had to rip the sheet out of the typewriter and start from the beginning. If you were lucky, some of the newer typewriters had a correction tape that would allow you to white out a few letters or a word, but it did not always work well. In our spiritual lives, as we grow in maturity as disciples, the truth is, there are no shortcuts, just practice.
As Jesus was preaching His Sermon on the Mount, He gave an illustration of the wise man versus the foolish man. In that sermon, Jesus was giving practical direction on how to live a faithful life as a disciple. He begins by offering blessings and then gives instructions on how to respond to God’s gift of grace. There’s no Oprah moment of “you get a car, and you get a car, and you . . .” without an expected response. Did you catch the important phrase? “And puts them into practice.” Jesus had finished teaching on how to be blessed, how to treat others, how to pray, and how to seek God, but hearing His words would mean nothing if they did not put them into practice.
You can want to be a great pitcher, but if you don’t practice, you will never grow as a baseball player. You can be inspired by a great sermon, but if you don’t put the lessons into practice, you’re not living as a disciple. You can want to hear the voice of the Lord in your prayer, but if you do not pray daily, you’ll not experience the gift of His presence. The wise man took Jesus’s teachings and he built his house (life) on the rocks so when the troubles of the world came, he was prepared. It won’t be easy to build our house. We’ll make mistakes. We’ll abandon our daily walks with Christ. But the house can still be built. It will take a lifetime to follow Jesus’s teaching, but if we want to be altar’d, there are no shortcut keys to discipleship. Surrendering takes practice.
THE PRAYER
Lord, we know You have made a way for us to build a strong house. On the days when we want a shortcut, let us remember that You did not take the easy way out to give us salvation. We don’t ever want to take for granted the life You have offered us. Amen.
THE QUESTION
How are you already putting into practice something you have learned from this Lenten devotional? What are some of the ways you have faced the “wind and the rain” of life? How has being a follower of Jesus helped you face those trials?
For the Awakening,
Susan Kent
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One Response
Life can be built on God’s Rock Foundation or on your sandcastle. Choose the Rock!
Continually listening for and consistently obeying the voice of the risen Jesus will establish your life on the foundation of the solid Rock of direct revelation from the living God. Keeping your heart open to devour and obey Scripture and to connect with Spirit-led Christ-followers who can help hold you accountable will protect you from the deception that tries to distract you and to destabilize your foundation.
When you hear
The Lion of Judah roar
In your conscience,
If you ignore
And refuse to obey
What He has to say
His voice will fade away
And your hardened heart
Will fall into
The quicksand
Of guilt and delay.