Follow-up Versus
Romans 6:20-23
The Believer’s Freedom
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
~ from Romans 6:23
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Pondering Point
While the path humanity blazes is fraught with sin and leads to death, the path Jesus lays out is loaded with mercy and is life with God.
We often think we have things figured out only to see it unravel in ways that we were not expecting. But nothing surprises God and He will always be our best option – from the beginning no less. But truth be told, we too often forget to start with Him and require mercy in the form of forgiveness for going our own way first.
Thank God for forgiveness, and let’s start today’s path with God right away.
Prayer for the Day
Father God, not only have You told us that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, but You have also told us that going our own way leads to death – even though it may appear right to us in the moment. Lead us in paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake and keep us off any and all paths of unrighteousness, even if they seem right at the time. Deliver us from evil in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Micro-Group (MG) Moment:
Considering a conversation between Mother Teresa and Henri Nouwen, two renowned Jesus followers of the 20th century
Our discipleship point today is drawn from The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, our book study over Lent. The Greek word often translated as “disciple” can also be translated as “apprentice.”
(repeated from yesterday) Nouwen once asked Mother Teresa for spiritual direction. He was dealing with a number of problems in his soul and sought her wisdom…You know what she said?
"Well, when you spend one hour a day adoring
your Lord and never do anything which you
know is wrong... You will be fine!"
So, so simple. Two very straightforward practices. Just take an hour a day to enjoy God. Oh, and don't do anything you know is wrong. So before you write me off and go back to your noisy life - and, I might add before you write off Mother Teresa, Henri Nouwen and Jesus, who hopefully carry more weight than yours truly -- just think about what's at stake. When we don't practice this Jesus soul habit, we reap the consequences:
• We feel distant from God and end up living
off someone else's spirituality
• We feel distant from ourselves
• We feel an undercurrent of anxiety that rarely if ever goes away
• We get exhausted
• We return to our escapes of choice
• We become easy prey for the tempter
• Emotional unhealth sets in.
~ J.M. Comer, Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, pp. 136, 137 adapted
Prayer Prompt
[Insert your own prayer about today's devotion.]