MARCH 16, 2023

  “I'd made it this far and refused to give up because all my life I had always finished the race.” 

― Louis Zamperini, Devil at My Heels

DEUTERONOMY 27-28

9The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him(28:9)

MARK 15:33-37

33At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).^b

35When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

36Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.

37With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

38The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,^c he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

JOURNAL 

A life lived in it's fullness from birth to death is a beautiful thing. Why was it that the centurion...seeing how he died said "Surely this man was the Son of God!"? I think it's because integrity, obedience and passion in the midst of adversity is one of the great revelations of the divine. Jesus persisted, obeyed and did not waver all the way to the end, even when he felt betrayed by God...he didn't resort to renouncing or vengeance but rather accepted his fate, accepted his path and finished. 

Everyone has a cross to bear, everyone has adversity to encounter. How do we handle it? How do we persist? When we submit to follow God all the way to the end. Then our life becomes a gift that God uses in bringing his Kingdom on earth. So not only does Christ provide the path to God in securing our redemption he also shows us how to live a life that's perfect in fulfilling it's purpose.

This is such a lesson in the ordinary daily grind as well. The reality is that the small moment by moment victories are what prepare us for the big ones...and we will have the big ones. If we fail in the small ones, we are likely to fail in the big ones. The small ones also don't just pertain to a profession or particular part of our lives. Every moment of our lives is important, every moment offers us a challenge to overcome. How we view that challenge and how we persist in our obedience to God creates patterns and habits for the rest of our lives. 

So continually blowing it in one area of my life will have an effect on the other areas. So it's vital that I bring Christ and obedience to God into every corner of my life. This is what it means to have faith, devotion and to surrender my life to God. It's not a sometime, in important moments kind of faith. It's a every day, every moment for the rest of my life kind of faith. 

28Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

JOHN 19:28-30