Jesus be my Heartbeat

Hebrews 5:8

“Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.”

“Although he was a son.” Although Jesus was the Son of the Most High God, the Great High Priest, the Creator of the universe, and the Blameless Lamb of God, He had to learn obedience unto the will of God. That baffles me, but I so easily forget that though Jesus was fully God, he was also fully man. He never sinned, but he met temptation just as much as I do. He never strayed from God’s will, but the flesh within him surely attempted to persuade Jesus to follow his own path. Through it all, he had to learn what it meant to be obedient and yielded unto the Lord. Unfortunately, the times that we truly grow and learn what it means to be godly, are the times we are in the dark, suffering, and fighting off the devil and his flaming arrows. 1Peter 4:12 says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” 2 Timothy 3:12-14 also states: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”  These verses spoke volumes to me. As a little girl, I spent at least four days a week at my church, and I still have never known a life without it. But as I have grown up, I have seen countless people stray away. People that I committed my life to the Lord with, was baptized with, and went to retreats, camps and conferences with. All of those boys and girls that I grew up with, knew the bible inside and out, and grew up in the church just like me, so why did they leave? Suffering. They forgot that a life in pursuit of God, is not all rainbows and butterflies. Christians love to neglect the fact that we will suffer, and when they do suffer, they blame God and flee. But how would we know growth if we weren’t first pruned? How would we know joy, if we hadn’t first experienced pain? Suffering is necessary and though it hurts and often times, blinds us, it refines us and has the power to make us sweeter and purer human beings. The power is in our hands, however, and it is a deliberate choice we must make every day. Philippians 1:29 says, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake.” For the sake of Christ. For the sake of Christ we suffer, because he did not just suffer for us, but he died for us, and he died because his soul loves us and longs to know us. There will be times in my life that I feel like I am just barely getting by, and there will be times of thriving and great joy. In either case, may I learn obedience. May I not forget that God puts us in situations in order to teach us more about His mighty power, and the nature of our weak and sinful hearts. Whether we are in the darkness or in the light, may we cling to Jesus and remain rooted and built up in His love. May we not forget the why. The why we became Christians in the first place. Let Jesus be the heartbeat of your life and the motivation behind every single thing you do.

Application: Tonight, I will sit down with Sara (my RA) and ask her how I can improve and how she has seen me growing throughout the six weeks I have been at IGNITE. I will listen to her criticism and be obedient to her guidance.