Luke 18:18
It’s the ultimate question: WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO? We live in a culture of “doing.” From work to hobbies to extracurricular activities with our children, we are always “doing” something. I remember when my kids were little, we were going in every direction. From soccer to Upward basketball to AWANA to school parties to youth group, we were running hard … “doing” a lot. Sometimes as a parent you even believe that you’re not a good parent if you’re not “doing” a lot for your children.
Unfortunately, we tend to equate success based on “doing!” It’s no different with spiritual things. We tend to think if we “do” more for God, that he will love us more. We believe that if we “do” more for God, we are more spiritual than the person sitting next to us in our church’s gatherings. We think that somehow our value or even destiny is connected to what we “do!” Nothing could be further from the truth.
Jesus had many encounters with all kinds of people, but very few if any were as sad as this encounter. A “rich young ruler” asked Jesus a watershed question. A man who was influential and wealthy; a man who was young and ambitious; a man who was seeking and searching, this man asked Jesus what he had to “do” to inherit eternal life. No doubt this young Jew had it engrained in his heart that he needed to obey the Mosaic Law…every last bit of it. So, he sought assurance, some way of knowing for sure that he would receive eternal life. He wanted Jesus to measure and grade his qualifications, or maybe Jesus could give him some outward task he could “do” that would assure his own immortality. As you read further on in the story (including tomorrow’s devotion), what you will find is that Jesus exposed this man’s wrong thinking. He needed to begin to see things differently.
Let me give you the most encouraging thing that I can give to you in this moment - you don’t have to “do” anything for eternal life! Jesus already DID the work that was necessary for your salvation on The Cross! He paid the way when there was no other way. The Bible tells us that we are all “lost in our sins” without Jesus (Romans 3), and our hearts are inherently evil without Jesus (Jeremiah 17:9)! The Bible even warns us that anything and everything that we “do” without his loving grace is disgusting to God - “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah 64:6 NIV
For some of you, you are still trying to make amends for past mistakes. You think that if you simply can “do” more for God that he’ll finally forgive you and value you. For others of you, you are in a dangerous place of self-righteousness. You think that because you “do” more for God that you are somehow better than those who do less. I work hard. I work a lot. My wife has often reminded me that just because I “do” more for God than her in ministry, it does NOT mean that God loves or values me any more than he loves or values her. She is right. I need to hear that because I sometimes make the mistake of thinking that what I “do” is going to get me closer to God. It’s not. That’s the wrong way to look at it. The right way to look at it is that God offers me his free gift of “grace” for salvation. There is nothing I can do to earn it!
Stop “chasing after” God’s favor! If you are saved by his grace, you already have his favor! Start living in that reality. He loves you despite your issues. He favors you despite your struggles. He cares for you despite the fact that you’ve made past mistakes. If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, give your life to him by faith alone. Stop thinking that you have to “do” something to be saved from your sin. Remember, it’s not about what you need to “do”; it’s about what has already been DONE FOR YOU! Praise the Lord! You can breathe again!
Unfortunately, we tend to equate success based on “doing!” It’s no different with spiritual things. We tend to think if we “do” more for God, that he will love us more. We believe that if we “do” more for God, we are more spiritual than the person sitting next to us in our church’s gatherings. We think that somehow our value or even destiny is connected to what we “do!” Nothing could be further from the truth.
Jesus had many encounters with all kinds of people, but very few if any were as sad as this encounter. A “rich young ruler” asked Jesus a watershed question. A man who was influential and wealthy; a man who was young and ambitious; a man who was seeking and searching, this man asked Jesus what he had to “do” to inherit eternal life. No doubt this young Jew had it engrained in his heart that he needed to obey the Mosaic Law…every last bit of it. So, he sought assurance, some way of knowing for sure that he would receive eternal life. He wanted Jesus to measure and grade his qualifications, or maybe Jesus could give him some outward task he could “do” that would assure his own immortality. As you read further on in the story (including tomorrow’s devotion), what you will find is that Jesus exposed this man’s wrong thinking. He needed to begin to see things differently.
Let me give you the most encouraging thing that I can give to you in this moment - you don’t have to “do” anything for eternal life! Jesus already DID the work that was necessary for your salvation on The Cross! He paid the way when there was no other way. The Bible tells us that we are all “lost in our sins” without Jesus (Romans 3), and our hearts are inherently evil without Jesus (Jeremiah 17:9)! The Bible even warns us that anything and everything that we “do” without his loving grace is disgusting to God - “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah 64:6 NIV
For some of you, you are still trying to make amends for past mistakes. You think that if you simply can “do” more for God that he’ll finally forgive you and value you. For others of you, you are in a dangerous place of self-righteousness. You think that because you “do” more for God that you are somehow better than those who do less. I work hard. I work a lot. My wife has often reminded me that just because I “do” more for God than her in ministry, it does NOT mean that God loves or values me any more than he loves or values her. She is right. I need to hear that because I sometimes make the mistake of thinking that what I “do” is going to get me closer to God. It’s not. That’s the wrong way to look at it. The right way to look at it is that God offers me his free gift of “grace” for salvation. There is nothing I can do to earn it!
Stop “chasing after” God’s favor! If you are saved by his grace, you already have his favor! Start living in that reality. He loves you despite your issues. He favors you despite your struggles. He cares for you despite the fact that you’ve made past mistakes. If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, give your life to him by faith alone. Stop thinking that you have to “do” something to be saved from your sin. Remember, it’s not about what you need to “do”; it’s about what has already been DONE FOR YOU! Praise the Lord! You can breathe again!
Posted in Devotional