Press the arrow to listen to Matt Redman’s Blessed Be Your Name while you read today’s devotion.

Scripture
Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Matthew 6:20-21

Observation
There is no trailer hitch on a hearse for a UHaul. There is no luggage rack on a coffin. As Karl Barth summarized, “One day the hearse will leave the cemetery and everyone will leave except you.” Here’s another one from George Bernard Shaw: “The statistics on death are impressive; one out of one people die.”

If death is a given, why do we buy and sell as if it did not exist? At best we consider death in a nursing home or on a deathbed. Few consider death when it really matters most: during LIFE. How much more we could enjoy life if we adjusted every decision with the end in mind. We would live clean and focused.

The best example of human frugality without God is saving for retirement. That is commendable, but not enough. We should be saving for eternity. We should start by first moving our heart into heaven. If we will do that, every daily decision becomes simpler.

When Leslie and I were first married, we had as our ambition to move to Australia to pastor a church. We were 21 when we married and by age 24 we did move to Brisbane and there we pastored for 21 years. It was one of the best decisions of our lives. During that four years of waiting to go, we made every decision based on our future move. We lived light in America because we knew that our home would soon be in Australia. Many things we passed up on buying because it just wasn’t time yet.

Application
Jesus asks me to live like that today. I am not settling down on earth, I’m packing for heaven. There are works beyond this life, and the way we live and give prepare us for them. What will I have in heaven to work with if we only die with a 401K? What I own, I owe, only what I give, I have.

Prayer
Thank you Father for what I don’t have in my possession that is in your hands. It is safer there; help me to live confident of that. I chose to move my heart to heaven today. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Casting Crowns sing Love Them Like Jesus while you read today’s devotion.

Scripture
Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him. Matthew 4:19-20

Observation
What kind of bait will catch fishermen? With one sentence, Jesus managed to persuade small businessmen to shut up shop and trek with him. What kind of lure did he pull from his vest?

Jesus didn’t use the fly we’d expect. Something along the line of “follow-me-and-I’ll-make-you-the-best-you-that-you-can-be” I think would be very appealing. However, Jesus did not use any self-development pitch. He pulled a surprise from his fishin’ bag.

Jesus offered the disciples the secret of changing others. That was all it took; they were hooked. I’m left staggered by the simplicity and selflessness of the call of Jesus. The call to follow Christ isn’t about me, it’s about changing others through my life. Of course, I will be changed in the process, but improving my life is not what discipleship is about. The heart of discipling is to make a difference in the life of another human being for all eternity. If that doesn’t appeal to me, then I’m not worthy of Christ, yet why wouldn’t it be attractive?

Application
If I were to offer to the public an indelible writing surface, on which any message could be etched to endure for ages, many would be interested.
It would not weather like the Sphinx,
or burn like the library books of Alexandria,
or topple like tombstones,
or fade like pencil,
or bleed like ink,
or crash like a computer,
or erase like a memory stick,
or crack like a CD.
No graffiti artist can obscure it,
nor army can bomb it,
nor flood, storm or fire can remove its memory forever.
Whatever is written on this surface will make an author’s words immortal.

Where is a permanent surface like this to be found? It is on the human heart, of course. Any word spoken for Christ and received by a child of God will last forever. Any change in a human life for Christ will be taken to heaven for eternity. This is why becoming a follower of Christ is so alluring, for only Christ-followers can do works that last forever.

Prayer
Father, this sounds like a very good deal. I’ll follow you Jesus into to crowd; let’s get going. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Jeremy Camp sing “No Matter What”

Scripture
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt. Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys. 1 Samuel 15:2-3

Observation
Saul did not clean up his plate and left a mess for others after him to contend with. Moses had been given a promise that one day the pesky Amalekites would be destroyed. They were the first nation to attack Israel when they left Egypt. It was gifted to Saul to fulfill the promise. But he didn’t do the job thoroughly and a few slipped through the net.

Roll the clock forward centuries to the book of Esther and discover the cost of Saul’s mistake. Haman, prime minister of King Artaxexes (the Persian king of the movie 300 fame), plots a holocaust to execute every Jewish person in the world.

Who was this Haman? Esther 3:1 gives the link. Haman was a descendent of the king of Amalek. He had a centuries old score to settle with Israel. Because Saul did do the job completely the entire nation was threatened and it was left to a woman to save the day.

Application
There is a cost of half-heartedness. We may pay the price, or those that we love. Whoever pays it, the longer the wait, the more the inflation of cost. We must complete the works God has given us to do.

Prayer
Father, let me be a completer of your works and not just a starter. Amen.

Press the arrow to watch a combination of Michael W. Smith’s classic lyrics on friendship as well as the epic friendship of Frodo and Sam from “Lord of the Rings”.

Scripture
“Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!”

“Do what you think is best,” the armor bearer replied. “I’m with you completely, whatever you decide.” 1 Samuel 14:6-7

Observation
I was listening to a commentator on the movie “Lord of the Rings”. The movie, he explained, is not about Frodo but about Sam, because the loyalty of the faithful friend enabled Frodo to succeed. The world needs more like Sam and Jonathan.

What made Jonathan such a good friend? As I reflect on the friendship with David, it was Jonathan who was the deeper friend who deepened David. Jonathan first offered is royal armor to David and pledged friendship at the start and then at the end of their days together and it was David who wept more than Jonathan when they parted. Jonathan was more than just a friend, he taught isolated people their need of having friendship.

What made Jonathan such a good friend was his indifference toward the insignificance of others and his significance as crown prince. In comrades, Jonathan did not look for blue blood, but hot blood. He searched for friends with get-up-and-go, love of country and fear of God. Jonathan was a man of the cause and he loved those who loved the cause of Israel. It didn’t matter to him if that person were a servant or a shepherd, for he did not care about who a person was as much as what that person believed.

Not only was Jonathan indifferent to the importance of others; he was also blasé about his own importance. He was quite happy to be the leader with his armor bearer and spearhead the charge up the hill. Jonathan was also just as happy to later lay down down all of his royal regalia on his first meeting of David and to give everything to him to become the future king.

Jonathan was indifferent about importance of others; he looked for lovers of the cause.
Jonathan was indifferent about his own importance; he could lay down everything for the sake of one friend.
Jonathan is always introduced with a best friend because he was the best friend anyone could hope for.

Jonathan’s name means “Yaweh has given” or simply, “God’s gift.” The young prince never strayed far from the meaning of his name, for he was a gift of God to others.

Application
Looking for lovers of the cause and then selflessly loving the cause of others, this is the formula for outstanding friendship. The world needs more Jonathans if there are to be more King Davids. I want to be a Jonathan.

Prayer
Father, I’ve had some in life who have been this to me; help me to be so to others. Help me to recognize Jonathan’s when I meet them and hang on to them. Amen.