All in
Saturday, February 16, 2013
First Week of Lent
Luke 5:27
Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.
Who would think that when Jesus says, “Follow me,” he means, “Take up your cross.”  And further, he means, “Light shall rise for you in the darkness, the Lord will guide you always, renew your strength and nourish you. You shall delight in the Lord, and you will ride on the heights of the earth” (Isaiah 58).
Jesus doesn’t do anything halfway, and he won’t let Levi (also called Matthew), do anything halfway either. Do you think Jesus might say the same to me and you? No half-breaths, no slumpy postures, no half-hearted gestures of generosity. When Jesus looks at me he does not break his gaze. He loves me and doesn’t stop watching with his loving eyes.
Single syllable song from Jesus: Come now, Dave, don’t stop. Let me love you. I will die and so will you. I will rise and so will you. Sing with me, sing with me. Go all in.
From the beginning God has taught his kids not to turn around or look behind. Who wants to become a pillar of salt when the promise is, “You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails.”
God promises great gifts in Isaiah 58. “Repairer of the breach, they shall call you.” The Message says, “You’ll make the community livable again.” Trust me, trust yourself, trust others. I will make you trustworthy. Just try me and see.
It’s your look of love, Jesus, that convinces me. I learn to love like you as I learn to return your gaze. I might blink, but you won’t. When I look away and look again, there you are, waiting. Deep calls to deep, Jesus. What else is there to do?
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1140
