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Devotion for Tuesday, April 7
Jesus replied, "The time has come for the Human One [Son of Man] to be glorified. I assure you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it can only be a single seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their lives will lose them, and those who hate their lives in this world will keep them forever." John 12:24-25, CEB
Jesus, our Savior and Example, shows us through his willingness to set his face to Jerusalem what it means to die to self and live for others. Is it easy to let go and let God have God's way? No, the Garden of Gethsemane shows us that even Jesus struggled before his complete acceptance and willingness to move according to God's purpose. Sometimes it's not easy to move forward and to answer when we are called to release our life's dreams, goals, or desires, but Jesus promises that when we do-when we let go of our plan and agenda-we are enveloped in a new life that is richer than we can imagine. We live in Christ with a love that is eternal.
Calls to "let go" are arising everywhere. Right now we're being asked to let go of so many things-time with friends and family, our traditions of the holiday, the way we worship during Holy Week. A friend released her pilgrimage through England in May. My daughter and her fiancé let go of the wedding they'd planned for June. My Jewish residents at Twining are letting go the Passover seder we share together. Our dear Mr. Nelson and his choirs are letting go of the time honored ritual of "Even the Heavens are Weeping" on Thursday night. All these things have been willingly set free because something so much bigger is at stake-the health and wellbeing of those we love.
As we move into the week that is being called this generation's Pearl Harbor or 9/11 by both politicians and reporters, we understand that letting our plans die serves a higher purpose. Great or small, our acts of letting go lend themselves to the preservation of life; they "bears much fruit" as it were. We are especially moved when we look at those serving in life or death situations in hospitals as doctors, nurses, and medical technicians--people who are letting go in a powerful way by willing to set their lives aside for the lives of others. Every day they're modeling for us the lessons of our precious Lord Jesus! May we all just continue to do what we can for the good of others.
Let us pray: Dear God, thank you for your Son Jesus who showed us what it means to live a life according to your purposes. Let us be willing to release whatever gets in the way of us being the people you'd have us be, and let us trust that your loving goodness will prevail. In your name we pray, Amen.
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| To Live Is Christ - Sidewalk Prophets |
Chaplain Erin
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