Helplessly and Completely Dependent
As our children get older, most of us would encourage them to be independent. We want them to think for themselves and not be so reliant on us to care for them.
Entries by YMI
ODB: Jesus, Our Substitute
March 29, 2024
READ: 1 Peter 3:13–18
Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18
A wealthy twenty-year-old was drag-racing with his friends when he struck and killed a pedestrian. Although the young man received a three-year prison sentence, some believe that the man who appeared in court (and who subsequently served a prison sentence) was a hired surrogate for the driver who committed the crime. This type of thing has been known to occur in some countries where people hire body doubles to avoid paying for their crimes.
This may sound scandalous and outrageous, but more than two thousand years ago, Jesus became our substitute and “suffered once for [our] sins, the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18). As God’s sinless sacrifice, Christ suffered and died once and for all (Hebrews 10:10), for all who believe in Him. He took the penalty for all our sins in His own body on the cross. Unlike a person today who chooses to be a substitute for a criminal to get some cash, Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross provided “hope” for us as He freely, willingly gave His life for us (1 Peter 3:15, 18; John 10:15). He did so to bridge the chasm between us and God.
May we rejoice and find comfort and confidence in this profound truth: Only by the substitutionary death of Jesus can we—sinners in need—have a relationship with and complete spiritual access to our loving God.
— Marvin Williams
How has Christ’s substitutionary death changed your life? What does it mean for you to have access to God and eternal life because of Jesus' death on the cross?
Dear Jesus, thank You for dying in my place so that I might have access to God.
Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.
Costly Decisions
Some years ago, I went to work in a country that had a reputation for not being safe. I took my wife and two small boys. A Christian friend said to me, “How could you take your children to a place like that?
ODB: A New Command to Love
March 28, 2024
READ: John 13:3–5, 12–15, 31–35
A new command I give you: Love one another. John 13:34
In a tradition starting as early as the thirteenth century, members of the royal family in the United Kingdom give gifts to people in need on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. The practice is rooted in the meaning of the word maundy, which comes from the Latin mandatum, “command.” The command being commemorated is the new one that Jesus gave to His friends on the night before He died: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).
Jesus was a leader who took on the role of a servant as He washed His friends’ feet (v. 5). He then called them to do the same: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (v. 15). And in an even greater act of sacrifice, He lay down His life, dying on the cross (19:30). Out of mercy and love, He gave Himself that we might enjoy the fullness of life.
The tradition of the British royal family serving people in need continues as a symbol of following Jesus’ great example. We may not have been born into a place of privilege, but when we place our faith in Jesus, we become members of His family. And we too can show our love by living out His new command. As we depend on God’s Spirit to change us from within, we can reach out to others with care, affirmation, and grace.
— Amy Boucher Pye
How have you observed or embodied servant leadership? In what ways could you “love one another” today?
My great Savior, what a gift of love You give! Thank You for being the ultimate Servant, laying down Your life for me.
Cracked and Found
Yes, it is foundational to our faith. Yes, it’s when sin and death are defeated. Yes, it leads to a new hope in Christ. These are absolutely wonderful, good news! But did you also know that…
Watch Your Life
In 1 Timothy 4:16, Paul exhorts his young co-worker: “Watch your life and doctrine closely.” Timothy is not to be so consumed with other issues that his own spiritual welfare is neglected.
ODB: Fruitful Believers in Christ
March 27, 2024
READ: Mark 11:12–20
Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. Mark 11:13
Cindy was excited for her new job in a nonprofit company. What an opportunity to make a difference! She soon discovered her coworkers didn’t share her enthusiasm. They mocked the company’s mission and made excuses for their poor performance as they looked elsewhere for more lucrative positions. Cindy wished she’d never applied for this job. What looked great from afar was disappointing up close.
This was Jesus’ problem with the fig tree mentioned in today’s story (Mark 11:13). It was early in the season, yet the tree’s leaves signaled it might have early figs. Nope. The tree had sprouted leaves, but it hadn’t yet produced fruit. Disappointed, Jesus cursed the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again” (v. 14). By the next morning the tree had entirely withered (v. 20).
Christ once fasted forty days, so He knew how to go without food. Cursing the fig tree was not about His appetite. It was an object lesson. The tree represented Israel, which had the trappings of true religion but had lost the point. They were about to kill their Messiah, the Son of God. How more barren could they be?
We may look good from afar, but Jesus comes near, looking for fruit that only His Spirit can produce. Our fruit need not be spectacular. But it must be supernatural, such as love, joy, and peace in hard times (Galatians 5:22). Relying on the Spirit, we can bear fruit even then for Jesus.
— Mike Wittmer
What fruit do others see in you? How might you be more fruitful?
Holy Spirit, prune me so I might bear more fruit.
Live in Preparation
When I was a young Christian, I regularly faced the temptation to live like my non-Christian friends. One thing that kept me from compromising my Christian commitment was the fear of God.
ODB: Missing the Basics
March 26, 2024
READ: Matthew 22:23–33
You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. Matthew 22:29
For decades, McDonald’s ruled fast food with their Quarter Pounder burger. In the 1980s, a rival chain cooked up an idea to dethrone the company with the golden arches. A&W offered the Third Pound Burger—larger than McDonald’s—and sold it for the same price. Even more, A&W’s burger won numerous blind taste tests. But the burger bombed. Nobody bought it. Eventually, they dropped it from the menu. Research revealed that consumers misunderstood the math and thought the Third Pound Burger was smaller than the Quarter Pounder. A grand idea failed because people missed the basics.
Jesus warned of how easy it is to miss the basics. Religious leaders, scheming to trap and discredit Him during the week He was crucified, posed a strange, hypothetical scenario about a woman who was widowed seven times (Matthew 22:23–28). Jesus responded, insisting that this knotty dilemma wasn’t a problem at all. Rather, their problem was how they didn’t “know the Scriptures or the power of God” (v. 29). The Scriptures, Jesus insisted, aren’t first intended to answer logical or philosophical puzzles. Rather, their primary aim is to lead us to know and love Jesus and to “have eternal life” in Him (John 5:39). These are the basics the leaders missed.
We often miss the basics too. The Bible’s main aim is an encounter with the living Jesus. It would be heartbreaking to miss it.
— Winn Collier
How do you miss Scripture’s basics? How can you return to the basics . . . to Jesus?
Dear God, sometimes I get lost even amid good things. Please help me.