Lent: Week 4
MARCH 3–9
Fasting Suggestion: Caffeine and Sweets
Coffee in the morning. A soda midday. A chocolate treat in the evening. Not bad in themselves, but how easy is it to believe we can’t function without them? As we ask the Lord for the bread that we need every day, let’s reassess our “need” for things like caffeine and sugary foods. “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
Verse to Memorize: Revelation 5:9
Devotional by Pastor Dave Zuleger
And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”––John 12:23–25
Again, notice a pattern: death that leads to life. Suffering that leads to conquering. Jesus is announcing the hour for him to be glorified. I’m sure the disciples were excited until they heard the next few lines. “Yes Jesus! Finally! Put on a show. Show off your power! How will you do it?”
Jesus says that a grain of wheat is fruitful when it dies, for then it is able to bear much fruit. The death doesn’t look glorious (neither does suffering!) and you can’t even really see the work that is going on under the ground until much later. But it’s that death that will bear much new life.
And then Jesus says the analogy is for us. If we value what we have in this life most––comfort, wealth, money, power, prestige, popularity, or whatever––over being with Jesus for all of eternity, we will lose our life. But if we will give up those things as idols for the sake of walking with Jesus now and forever, we will keep our life for eternity. The point is that the mark of a true believer is that they value Jesus more than anything else and therefore are willing to give up anything else for the sake of his Name.
What might this have to say to us about our witness to our neighbors? What might this have to say to us about how we spend our time, energy, and money? May God have us continually take up our cross to follow him––that much fruit might be born.
