Devoted
Jesus’ death on the cross, His burial and resurrection, is the greatest event in history and has had a huge impact on my life. Accepting Jesus as my Saviour has brought me a vision of God’s love and hope for the future. Life has never been the same since I came to the foot of the cross and chose to accept Jesus and be His disciple. Our Conference Discipleship Ministries Team have developed a great definition of discipleship: “Discipleship is the lifelong process of Learning to Follow Jesus to become more like Him for the Benefit of Others.”
This is not about me, but about Jesus. My heart wants to please Him because He loves me so much (John 3:16). Being more like Jesus comes out of being devoted to Him. He gives me a new heart and puts his Spirit in me (Ezekiel 36:26), which changes what my heart wants. Instead of making excuses for my sinful behaviour, my desire is to present my body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him (Romans 12:1).
This year, our Discipleship team has focused on providing resources such as Follow 23 and Read the Bible in a Year. This has been valuable for myself in practicing a life of devotion to God, and I have enjoyed engaging with Him in reading Scripture and prayer. These are disciplines that I have followed for many years as a disciple of Jesus. I do this because I am devoted to Jesus, not to gain any merit. Over the years, there have been struggles and some inconsistency, but I always come back to it because it brings me to the water of life – Jesus Christ.
My devotion to Jesus is not about me, and I am challenged to think about the benefit of others. If you read the book of Acts, the focus is on mission and sharing the story of Jesus in words and action. A real focus of devotion to Jesus is to be part of His community – the body of Christ or the Church. The facts are that the church does not exist for itself. It exists for the benefit to others. The light on the hill or the salt in the world (Matt 5:13-16). Any actions or words are to glorify God not us. It is never about us.
Next year, our Discipleship Ministry Team will focus on small groups. This is very Acts 2:42-47 – meeting together, devoting time to teaching, prayer, Lord’s Supper, generosity, and worship of God. This biblical model was not just about the believer, but about new people. Each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.
In your devotion to God, think about how you can start up a small group or a different kind of Sabbath kind of School class that resembles the New Testament model. Resist the temptation of only focusing on teaching and include prayer, the Lord’s Supper regularly, acts of generosity and worship of God. Make sure what you do is for the benefit of others. By the time you read this, it will be getting close to Christmas and the New Year. Christmas is a great time to remember the greatest gift – Jesus Christ. In the New Year, think and plan to be part of a small group that imitates the New Testament rather than your comfort zone.
