Note before sharing the devotional: in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on September 10th, and in the midst of the (admittedly unexpected) intense grief I've experienced, despite confidence of his salvation, I felt it was time to spend at least the next several days sharing recent Scriptural devotionals from my Bible app, YouVersion, with you. The call is to preach the Gospel. Honestly, I haven't been doing it that much lately. This is a first step of many to try to correct that. Life is short. At my current age, and in part because of the ups and downs of my health condition, I am far more aware of this truth than ever before. And yet, even now I still have been guilty of forgetting and taking life for granted. So here goes:
For your own sake, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, King, and Savior. Ask Him to come into your heart. Dare to trust Him with your whole life, including every aspect of your life. He died for you. He died for me. He may not have technically been assassinated like Kirk was, but He was crucified, which, to find a modern Western society comparison, is very similar to being lynched. He was 100% innocent. He did not get a fair trial. When He was flogged, He wasn't just beaten severely; He had chunks of flesh ripped out of His midsection to the point where many of His internal organs were visible. And then He had to carry a rough, splintered, heavy wooden cross (equivalent to the weight of a billiards or pool table), all while also wearing a crown of thorns that was piercing His head all around. The Sanhedrin didn't care; the Romans didn't care. But He did it anyway. And the fact that He was still able to carry a heavy, splintered wooden object the size of a pool table goes to show that, as the Bible says, He did indeed lay down His life when the punishment of His Father in heaven, and the wrath of God on all humanity, was satisfied. Lesser men, if they had gotten flogged the same way Jesus had gotten flogged, would've died right then and there, and if not, they certainly would not have been able to carry a rough, rugged, splintered, pool table on their backs. They would've died trying. But Jesus didn't die then; He only died once He laid his life down upon knowing that God's wrath was finally satisfied, after three whole hours of abandonment after all the other punishments had been handed out. After all that was done, He rose again from the dead on the third day. He conquered death, so that you and I can live and have that eternal life. Most importantly, Jesus chose this path willingly because He loves you, and because He loves me. He wants you to be in heaven with Him for eternity (in other words, the best place ever, for a very very long time). But you have to reject sin, repent, turn to Him, and let Him be King of your life. And for some, this may require dying a death similar to Kirk's. But heaven awaits afterward, for all those who truly trust and surrender to Jesus totally and completely.
And part of that is reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus personally this way. As such, here is the devotional for today:
Commit to the Work
It’s a complex dance—being faithful with the opportunities God gives you while also trusting Him with the variables that are out of your control.
The writer of Proverbs, typically attributed to King Solomon, said this:
“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”Proverbs 16:3 ESV
It sounds simple enough—to commit your work to the Lord. But it takes intentional effort, continual surrender, and genuine trust.
Throughout Scripture, we see all kinds of work: farming, building, pastoring, parenting, fishing, doctoring, leading, designing, singing, writing, engineering, shepherding, and much more.
In his letter to the Roman believers, Paul discusses talents and gifts when he says:
“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”Romans 12:6-8 NLT
You can commit your work to God by:
- honoring Him with your efforts
- valuing the people you interact with
- faithfully returning the tithe
- promoting truth and love
- living graciously and generously
- thoughtfully utilizing your time
- leveraging your God-given creativity to glorify Him
You can plant a seed in good soil, position it for ideal sunlight, and water it consistently, but—above all—it’s God who gave you the seed and it’s God who makes the seed grow.
Your job is obedience, God’s job is everything else. So whatever you do, commit your work, your efforts, and your life to Him—and watch Him work through you.
Commit your works to the Lord,
And your thoughts will be established.
Prayer: God, I want my life to be lived for Your glory. In moments where it's difficult for me to surrender my plans to You, please help me to focus on Your vision for the future. I want all of my work and anything I do to point others to You. In Jesus's name, Amen.
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