Daily Devotion: April 1

This past December God began to speak to me through a powerful book by John Mark Comer entitled, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. As I read about Comer’s experience with busyness and unbalance I began to see a contrast between my own life and the life that Jesus calls His disciples to live. There was no condemnation, only a heartfelt encouragement to share in the wonderful treasure and unveiled beauty of life with Jesus.

The words of Jesus in Matthew 11 have set me on a path of rediscovering the beauty of communing with my Savior and friend.

Jesus says to His followers,

Matthew 11:28–30 (The Message)

28 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.  

29 Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  

30 Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

I love how this translation captures the compassionate tone of Jesus as He observes the frenetic pace of the people in the 1st century. Their lives were packed full of activity and concerns and planning and hurry. I think we can agree that our own lives are just as busy and that many of us have become accustomed to moving from one activity to the next in the name of success or to avoid the monster we call boredom.

Jesus is pleading with each of us to consciously choose a new way to live our lives. If we are honest with ourselves, the way we currently do life has likely led to a palpable level of anxiety, stress, shallowness, and a lack of joy and freedom that often leaves us feeling trapped.

We long to breathe deeply the love and joy and excitement the Bible speaks of, but it’s easy to allow the internal weight of life to steal that blessing.

Jesus looks at us with perfect love and says,

“My child, there’s a better way!”

“Come here, let me show you.”

He beckons us to stop. To step off the hamster wheel. To ensure that our mind and our pace are in step with His.

The key in this invitation is time. Spending time alone with Jesus to learn this lesson. And although we find ourselves in the midst of uncertainty, one thing we do know: He has given us time. More time than most of us have had in a long...well, time!

How long does it take to learn how to bake a pie or land an ollie on a skateboard or pull off a no-look pass in basketball? Time must be spent. Attention must be given. Competing voices and images must be temporarily silenced.

God has given us the blessing of time.

Time to get away with Jesus and recover your life. The abundant life that God has always desired for you to experience because He loves you.

Time to walk with Him and not run ahead of Him.

Time to read and meditate on the life of Jesus.

Time to put your faith into action at home and  in your community.

Time to “learn the unforced rhythms of grace.”

Jesus invites us to sit by His side. To keep company with Him so that “you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Let’s use this time learning to live and love like Jesus!

FOR YOUR KIDS

Get to know your kids

1.  What is your favorite dinosaur?
2. If you could ask an animal a question, what would it be?
3. What does the fox say?

Devotional Questions

1. What are some ways we can spend time with God? (Examples: Walking, Reading the Bible, Praying, Watching Bible Videos etc.)
2. When can you set aside time this week to spend time with God?
3. How would you like to spend time with God?
4. Remind your kids that God isn’t in a place or thing but is always with them. No matter where they are they can always acknowledge what He is doing.

Have Fun
In life we can simply stop what we are doing and choose to look around and acknowledge what God is doing in our life.
To illustrate this point, play a game of iSpy.