By Pastor Steve Nickodemus

I Only Need Jesus

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?”
Luke 9:25 New International Version

It was a beautiful piece of furniture, solid oak with intricate drawers and cubbyholes and in great shape.  And only $75!  The roll top desk almost cried out for me to buy it.

But did I really need this desk?  For what purpose?  So that I could show it off as a collector’s piece? It was an impractical piece of furniture I would never use.  It reminded me of a film about the Oregon trail and the family discarding the beloved but impractical piano along the way.  It was a burden that was holding them back from reaching the promised land.

Do you have some unneeded burdens that you have been carrying?  Some favorite habits or addictions or bitterness or angry thoughts that you need to discard?  Are there some fears or worries or secrets that you need to dump out of your wagon on the way that Jesus is calling you to go?

Jesus is calling you to follow Him, to have no other Lord but Him.  He is calling you to get rid of everything that holds you back from following Him, from reaching the promised land, and from helping others reach the promised land also!

Are you carrying unneeded burdens that need to be discarded?  Confess that you are being distracted from following Jesus.  Repent of the sin and junk that needs to leave your life.  Jesus is enough, you can let the other stuff go.  Trust in Him alone and lighten up your load.  And fix your eyes on the promised land!

“I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.”  Amen.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church Colorado Springs, Colorado