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Today's Lenten Devotion
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Jesus in Us
For my Father's will is that everyone who looks up to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
This quote from Jesus' sayings is from the book of John and comes just before Jesus' instruction that he is the bread of life sent down from Heaven. This clarification is indicative of the fact that looking up to Jesus and believing in him is not as simple as it first seems.
I was brought up as a church goer. My uncle was a Lutheran minister and one of my grandfathers (who I never knew) had been a Methodist evangelist. I went to church regularly, went to confirmation classes and was duly confirmed as a Lutheran when I was about 17. Furthermore I went to an Episcopal private school from second grade on and attended religious services every school day. I looked up to Jesus and believed in him BUT I had not truly eaten of his bread of life. Jesus was not a part of my being or my daily existence.
I went away to college and entered into a busy secular world with all the worldly temptations of being on my own. I still believed in God and looked to and believed in Jesus after a fashion but rather quickly allowed this to go onto my back burner. I seldom if ever took time to think of Jesus. I never went to church and I certainly did not behave in a Christ following fashion.
When I went to work, married and had a family I had even less time if that was possible, for spiritual matters. However if you asked me if I believed in Jesus and looked up to him I would have said yes. WRONG!
Thank God that he has since brought me back. Following a series of shocking events, the untimely death of my mother, father and two brothers, I needed to look for him.
This time I needed more than lip service or some abstract belief. Through the wonderful pastors and people at Holy Trinity I found God again through His son Jesus. I learned to eat of his bread of life and though I am miles and miles from being worthy of him, I believe that I am now much closer to truly believing in him and looking up to him the way God means us to.
It is however not a simple matter for most of us. There are some who come to Christ in a flash of inspiration or arising from some moment of total despair but for most of us it is a slow process of growing in him.
Let's all continue to take him into ourselves bit by bit, day by day, bible reading by bible reading, sermon by sermon, lesson by lesson.
Let's all edify each other, be edified by our pastor and have Jesus grow in us as we grow in him.
Let us all make Jesus a part of our daily lives and continue day by day to live more and more as God wants us to live.
Let us all continue to give thanks for all that God has given us through His son, forgiveness of our sins leading to His greatest gift eternal life.
Dear Lord, help us all to know Jesus better and through him to come to you.
Paul Starke
Paulsstarke@aol.com
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