The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Psalm 23:1-3
God the Almighty, who keeps the sky and stars from falling and the oceans from flooding the earth, is not content with simply spinning the planets. In Jesus Christ, God chooses to love us and offers to guide our lives.
For our part, however, we like to tell God exactly what to do in our lives: “If you really loved me, you would heal me … give me a new job … make my life more pleasant.” When we do this, of course, we’re just trying to use God to fulfill our own aspirations. Even if God did fulfill them, they wouldn’t satisfy us as we hope they will. God loves us too much to be limited to our small dreams. That’s because we were created for something better.
But that something better—a relationship of holiness with God—requires that we give up every other love, commitment, and dream. That’s scary because we have no idea where God will take us or how he will care for us (or how we will live without all those things we’ve asked for). But he does promise to lead us into a place where love will conquer all our fears.
—M. Craig Barnes
Reflection
What is the one desire you need to let go of to better follow Jesus Christ?
Prayer
Overwhelm me, oh, God, with so much of your perfect love, that it will cast out all of the fear that hinders me from following your Son, my only Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
“I believe the will of God prevails; without him all human reliance is vain; without the assistance of that Divine Being I cannot succeed; with that assistance I cannot fail.” —Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of the United States
Leadership DevotionsCopyright © Tyndale House Publishers.Used by permission.
