Welcome to this Come to Jesus Daily devotional. For the near future, we put our Luke series on pause as we have some stand-alone summer devotionals. I hope you find them helpful.
‘Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.’ (Romans 13:14)
Lesson: Every day we are to purposely ‘put on Jesus’, that is, receive Him as Lord and Saviour afresh each day.
Most of us get dressed each day. Most of us pick clothes based upon the weather and occasion of the day. If one is going to a wedding, we would dress very differently to going to the beach - I hope! Paul tells us to ‘clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.’ What does this mean?
1. Put on Jesus’ salvation
Firstly, this means that we remember and celebrate our salvation in Christ. We remember how the Father sent His Son, who chose to die on the cross for our justification. This is vital! This is to be a central reason and theme of any meeting with the church. Every song we sing, every message that’s shared, every time we take Communion, we are clothing ourselves with Jesus as our Saviour. This is central to the idea of putting on ‘the helmet of salvation’ that is mentioned in The Armour of God in Ephesians 6.
2. Put on Jesus' Lordship
Following on from this, is putting on the Lordship of Jesus. Paul has in said earlier in the book of Romans:
‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ (Romans 12:1-2)
There, as in today’s text, we see that salvation and mercy - God’s grace on us - must lead to the fruitfulness of obedience to Jesus as Lord. We are told that having put on Christ we are urged, ‘and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.’ We cannot wear 2 outfits! Having put on Christ, we are not to also put on the ‘flesh’. And the principle is simple, just as we cannot wear two outfits or take two different paths, so, if we pursue putting on Jesus as Lord and Saviour, we will not pursue the desires of the flesh.
Response
Every day we are to purposely ‘put on Jesus’, that is, receive Him as Lord and Saviour afresh each day.
How do you purposely remember, celebrate and recommit yourself to Jesus as your Lord and Saviour each day?
A great song that you might find useful is I Am Not My Own:
COMMUNITY GROUP NOTES AND STUDY
Until September I'll not be producing a group study. However, if you meet with your group why not simply use one of the devotionals as a basis for your discussion together?
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