Author: Brian Burdett

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” – John 17:20-21

What a comfort to know that Jesus was already praying for us nearly 2000 years ago! We are those who believe in Jesus through the word of His original disciples. That’s us that Jesus was praying for as His crucifixion drew near! As impending suffering and death weighed on His heart, we were on His mind!!! Praise God!

What an incredible prayer! Our Savior prayed for our unity. That we would be one. That what unites us in Christ would always be more powerful than what previously separated us in the world. Our unity in Christ is greater than differences of gender, ethnicity, race, social standing, economic status, education, employment, or earthly achievement!

Moreover, we aren’t just united together, we’re united in God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit! We are invited and united with our Creator through faith in Jesus! Our vertical unity with Christ and our horizontal unity with neighbors who look and act different from us are meant to be powerful testimonies to a watching world that Jesus is truly the life-altering, soul-saving, world-redeeming Son of God.

All of which means, we need to take unity very, very seriously. Rather than dividing over petty things, we must battle to be united. We might fight to love our brothers and sisters in Christ even when we disagree with them. We must strive to stay together rather than simply walk away. Our unity is a precious gift, a powerful prayer, and a deep responsibility. We must live this prayer by the power of this prayer. Let us be one, just as Jesus and the Father are one!

“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows  
is God in his holy habitation.  
God settles the solitary in a home;  
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,  
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.”  
– Psalm 68:5-6 

God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, care, and concern for the most vulnerable shines throughout the Bible from beginning to end. God is the perfect, holy Father to those without an earthly father in their lives. He champions vulnerable widows. He gives the lonely fellowship with Himself and leads those imprisoned, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually to freedom. How? 

One critical way is through the actions of His people! In every generation, God appoints His people, the followers of Jesus, to share and act on His love, to demonstrate His concern in practical ways, and to minister to deep physical and spiritual needs. Throughout history, God’s people have stepped up to the task, founding hospitals and orphanages, providing desperately needed relief and aid, battling for the abolition of slavery, the education and uplift of the poor, and the rights of the disenfranchised.  

Each generation of Christian must actively cultivate God’s passion for those hurting and left behind by the world in their own hearts. We must care for those most easily taken advantage of and having the fewest protections. What practical things can you, or are you, doing as a child of God to provide God’s care and reveal His love for those in need? 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5

We live in a culture that elevates and celebrates busyness, productivity, and accomplishment. That culture easily spreads into our spiritual lives as well. Thankfully, Jesus gave us this beautiful teaching to remind us that when it comes to accomplishing things that truly matter and that will last for eternity, it isn’t about how busy we are or how many things we can check off a list. True Kingdom productivity flows naturally out of our ongoing relationship with Christ our King.

As we nurture our relationship with Jesus – in worship, prayer, study, meditation, and obedience to His commands, we will be fruitful. As we pause our activity to just be with Jesus and abide in Him, we will accomplish more that we could imagine. It will happen by His power and we couldn’t stop it if we tried! On the other hand, when we get so busy doing good things for Jesus that we neglect our relationship with Him, we aren’t fruitful. We get frustrated, exhausted, resentful, and burned out. But we aren’t be fruitful.

Though we’ll work hard as followers of Jesus, we must do so out of our regular rest and relationship in Christ alone. When we find our spiritual batteries running down, our heart in the wrong place, and our fruit non-existent, we mustn’t double down and try harder. Instead, we must refocus on abiding in Jesus. Invest in your relationship with Jesus at all times and let Him direct, guide, and empower all your activity on His behalf. Apart from Him, you can do nothing!

“And Samuel said,  
‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,  
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,  
and to listen than the fat of rams.’”  
– 1 Samuel 15:22 

God gave clear instructions to King Saul. However, King Saul had a “better” idea! Rather than obey God, Saul convinced himself that God would be more pleased if he made a spectacular sacrifice. Thoroughly convinced that he was bringing God greater glory through his “improvements” to God’s plan, Saul was surprised when God not only rejected his sacrifice, God rejected him. 

This disobedience was the final straw resulting in God’s rejection of his leadership over Israel. Though Saul would reign for many more years, God’s favor was gone and He raised up David to be king instead. Lest we merely consider this to be an interesting historical story, we must realize just how often we Christians can act like King Saul! 

God made His will clear through Jesus: believe in Him, follow Him, act like Him, obey Him. We do. To a point. However, inevitably we bump up against clear commandments of Scripture that are inconvenient, uncomfortable, feel dated, or seem irrelevant to our life. We rationalize doing something better, more loving, or more in line with God’s character instead of simply obeying. 

We rationalize our compartmentation of the sacred portion of our life from the religious portion of our life. We distract, deflect, and busy ourselves with things only loosely related to making disciples, going, baptizing, and teaching to obey all Christ commanded. We explain away differences between our churches’ priorities (or our priorities for our churches!) and the priorities displayed by the early church. This is no different than what Saul did. We must be different! God still finds our obedience better than any sacrifice, gift, or offering! 

“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” – John 12:25-26

Jesus is asking for your life. All of it. He isn’t merely asking you for a casual commitment to believe in Him and go to church regularly. He isn’t even just asking you to read your Bible daily and pray. He’s asking you to turn your whole life upside down and follow Him! Will you?

Jesus spoke these words as He prepared to go to His death and resurrection. He calls those who believe in Him to follow Him all the way. We must choose to follow Him in life, sacrifice, service, and even death. As we do, we follow Him into the pleasure and honor of the Lord!

There’s a tension between enjoying the seeming delights of earthly life and enjoying an abundant life in Christ that experiences, obeys, and serves God sacrificially while anticipating a glorious eternity with Jesus Christ. The more the usual details of earthly life consume our time and dominate our attention, the less we experience of the joy Christ wants us to enjoy.

The challenge is that for many of us today, we’ve constructed such a comfortable earthly life, numbed by our televisions and smartphones and overflowing with food, health, safety, and comfort, that it’s unimaginable to make risky, costly sacrifices to follow Jesus. Yet that’s exactly what He invites and rewards each of us to do. As unimaginable as such sacrifices are, the rewards of life spent truly following Christ are even more unimaginable. Are you ready to follow Jesus wherever He leads???