DAILY DEVOTIONAL – June 10, 2021

“Get To”

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, we know from Your Word given to us in Hebrews 12:2 that it was “for the joy that was set before You, that You endured the cross, despising the shame, and are now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Lord, as You come to us in Your Word, fill our hearts with the joy that is being Your disciples and following You.  Amen.

Scripture: 1 Samuel 12:24

Above all, fear the Lord and worship him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things he has done for you.

Devotional – “Get To”

You’ll never hear the avid fisherman say, “Do I have to go back to the lake?”
You’ll never hear the professional musician say, “Do I have to keep practicing?”
You’ll never hear a sports fan say, “How many games do I have to watch?”
You’ll never hear the food enthusiast say, “How often do I have to try a new restaurant or dish?”
You’ll never hear the young who are in love say, “Do I have to spend time with him/her again this week?”

You’ll never hear a devoted mother say, “How often do I have to hold my baby?” 

It’s a simple truth really.  People love doing what they love.  A major way of testing whether someone truly loves doing something is by measuring the frequency, the veracity, and the joy with which they do it.

As Christians, we confess and profess the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to be the love of our life because He first loved us.  The definition of a Christian is someone who loves Jesus as their Lord and Savior, someone who follows Him first, and someone who delights in serving Him.  Serving the Lord is our joy not because we have to in order to be saved, but because He has saved us and because He is the Lord, and He has made us His disciples and we get to serve Him!

Jesus suffered at the hands of sinners, even to the point of death on a cross, so that sinners would not have to suffer at the hands of a righteous and wrathful God.  His death and resurrection satisfied God’s wrath against our sin and the Bible says in John 1:12 that to everyone who has received Jesus as the Savior and who have believed in Him as the only Son of God, “He has given the right to become children of God.”

We have been given the right to be the children of God, which means that for all who are the children of God, all who believe, confess, and profess Jesus to be the love of our life because He first loved us, we do not have to serve God but we get to serve the living God with all of our heart, with all of our soul and strength and mind and all of our life!

As we look to our Lord Jesus, that is what we see: a pure love for God that flowed from a perfect knowledge of God’s love for Him and that resulted in a life filled with the joy of serving God even with His very last breath.  Jesus knew the wonderful goodness of God and He trusted it with all that He was and all that He had, even in the midst of His agony Jesus was filled with the joy of serving God.  As I have often asked rhetorically in my preaching and teaching, “Do you know how much joy a person has to have to suffer like Jesus did and pray for the forgiveness of those who drove nails into your hands and feet while they point and laugh at you?!”  It is a joy that can only come from God, and a joy we see in our Savior whose joy it was to serve His Father…and now because of Jesus…our Father.

If we truly believe and know the love of God that has been given to us in Jesus Christ, our life in service to Him is not a life of have to but it is a joyous life of get to!

I don’t have to, but I get to go to church and assemble with the people of God and not only hear once again of the wonderful things God has done for me, but literally receive of His wonderful goodness as the pastor absolves my sins and as I partake of the very Body and Blood of Jesus, my Lord, in the bread and wine of communion that delivers His grace to me and strengthens my faith.

I don’t have to read my Bible or go to Bible Study, I get to hold the very Words of God in my hands, that love letter written to me by the Spirit of God Himself who says in His Word in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

I don’t have to serve in the church or serve my neighbor or forgive my enemy, I get to serve my Lord who died and rose to serve me with His love and forgiveness each and every day and who died for me even while I was yet a sinner and an enemy of God (Romans 5).

1 Corinthians 15:56-58 sums up well the life of joy we get to live because of what has been done for us by our Lord.  “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

Thanks for joining me for another daily devotional, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today, and has already taken care of tomorrow.  Amen.