Begin with two minutes of stillness and silence before God.

Have you ever been a part of a team? I think everyone at some point coming through school should be a part of some type of team. It teaches you to work through adverse situations. It requires you to respect authority and to accept leadership roles. It encourages you to trust others and helps you understand responsibility for the success of others. Being a part of a team is rewarding and teaches so many valuable lessons. But one thing you learn early on in teamwork is who you can trust. When adversity hits and difficulties arise, you learn who is actually "all in" on your team.

I love the story of the rich man who comes to Jesus asking what he must do for eternal life. We see a man realize, as he speaks to Jesus, that he was not truly all in. Jesus presents the man with a list of all the things you should and shouldn’t do, and the man confidently replied that he had obeyed those things since he was a young boy.

Luke 18:22-23 then tells us “When Jesus heard this he said to him, There is still one more thing you need to do. Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me. But when the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was very rich.”

Just like the man in the story, is there something holding you back from being “all in” in your relationship with God? Something that holds us back from following Jesus fully? We all must self-evaluate and see if we are putting something before God. He demands that we put Him first in our life – over anything else. In this story, money held the greatest importance for this man. He wanted earthly riches and was willing to exchange an eternity with our Creator for it. What an incredible mistake! It's not always money that holds the highest position in our hearts, but the evil one is constantly seeking to present something to us to make God secondary. Don’t let that happen! An eternity with God cannot be compared to any earthly material, success, or relationship.

I also love this story because it says a lot about the character of God. People love to see Jesus as one full of grace and mercy to the lost, and He most certainly is. But when someone sins and does not repent, Jesus does not pull back on His word. When the rich man became sad and refused to follow Jesus, Jesus did not say “Hey, it’s ok…even though you can’t put me first, it will be ok. Just do the best you can.” That’s not what happened at all. Grace is important, but there is still a requirement of our hearts! We must repent, turn from sin, and follow Him with our hearts! Our Savior must have a top spot in our hearts!

I encourage you to be intentional in prayer and ask God what needs to be removed from your life to be closer to Him. Don’t make excuses about it, and don’t rationalize it. Ask God to help eliminate anything that does not glorify Him. Be ALL IN and truly follow Jesus.

Spend time in prayer today asking God to help you make him the priority in your life. Address the things that might be taking the top spot in your heart and ask God to help you turn from them and turn to Him.

Take two minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection: 

• Use the S.O.A.P. Method to study God’s Word.
  
• SCRIPTURE: What stands out to you in today’s passage?
  
• OBSERVATION: What is this text saying? What is the context? How does it fit with the verses before and after it? Are there any commands, instructions, or promises? 
  
• APPLICATION: How can you apply this verse to your life? What does this mean today? What is God saying to you? 
  
• PRAYER: Respond to the passage in prayer. Ask God to help you apply this truth to your life and spend some time listening to what He may be telling you.
  

The Way of Jesus: 7 Marks of Discipleship

As we begin a new series, we encourage you to lean into the 7 Marks of Discipleship each week. The 7 Marks of Discipleship provide a simple tool to help us identify areas where we are thriving in our calling and where we can grow. Check here each week for a new 7 Marks Challenge that will encourage you to follow Jesus closer every day.