Wednesday - focus our lives

Prayer:  May we trust and obey You each day O Lord.  May we know that You are the Way to life and love and compassion.    In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Luke 13: 22 – 30

Jesus continues to travel and teach about God.   Someone comes up to Jesus and asks if only a few people will be saved.    Jesus replies that the number saved or not saved is not important to the questioner.  What is important is that each person puts their mind on their life with God.    Focus on God rather than trying to figure out who is going to be saved and who is not. 

The Message St Luke 13:  23 – 25 (NavPress 2005) translates this passage like this:   “Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying, ‘Sorry, you’re not on my guest list.’ “

Read this portion of scripture over a couple of times.  What is Jesus saying?  Our life with God requires our total attention.     If we go to Church each Sunday and then do nothing in God’s love the rest of the week – if we forget to pray and read the Bible and meditate and worship God,  we are like those Jesus mentioned were hanging around the neighbourhood thinking we would get invited to the salvation banquet.  In the end we won’t be on God’s guest list.   Sobering thoughts!

So how do we focus our lives on God?      It isn’t easy but you are already one step closer – you are reading these devotionals!   Hurrah. 

There are many books about how to follow Jesus.  There are many books about how to pray.  There are many books about how to live in God’s love.    But the four  ways to keep a balanced Christian life is to pray,  read Scripture,  meditate,  and worship.     If each of us does these four things each and everyday then we become inspired  by God’s love and then we grow in God’s love and have compassion to help others.     

Prayer:   God of Power and Majesty,  we will live in Your presence this day.  When we fail and forget to focus upon You, we know that You forgive us of our faults.    When we get up in the morning and forget to say Good Morning to You,  we know that You forgive us of our memories.    When we turn to You in prayer and thoughts and deed,  we know that You rejoice with us.  This we ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.