Week of 3/24-3/30: His Life - The Power of His Kingdom

Day Three: Luke 7:18-23 Then John’s disciples told him about all these things. So John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord, asking, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?” When the men reached Him, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask You, ‘Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?’” At that time Jesus healed many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and He granted sight to many blind people. He replied to them, “Go and report to John the things you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. And anyone who is not offended because of Me is blessed.”

A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO I went skydiving.I was terrified, but I knew the experience would be well worth any potential anxiety ...assuming I lived to tell about it.Had I not lived to tell about my skydiving experience, it definitely would not have been worth the fear! Knowing this, I checked and re-checked (and then checked again!) to make sure everything was in place, that my harness was secure, and that my tandem partner had packed the parachute properly.When all was said and done, it was an experience of a lifetime.But that experience was worthwhile only because I lived to tell about it.

In Luke 7:18-23 we read about followers of John the Baptist asking Jesus if He was the Messiah sent to save them.Knowing that John the Baptist was about to be killed, this is a completely legitimate question.They knew that following Jesus would only be worth it if He was who they thought He was.Devoting one’s life to following just any ole’ person isn’t worth anything.Devoting one’s live to following the Messiah is worth everything.

We cannot live the lives Jesus calls us to unless we are assured that Jesus is worth it.He may not call for us to die in the way John the Baptist died, but we are called to die to ourselves.We can only die to ourselves if we fully accept and embrace the truth that Jesus is the Messiah sent to save us.That truth makes dying to self and living for Christ fully and completely worth it.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

▷▷What is something in which you have participated despite a great amount of fear?

▷▷What caused you to participate in that activity?

▷▷How can you use the memory of that experience to help you grow in Christ?