Max Lucado Daily Devotional

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Jesus’ obedience began in a small town carpentry shop. His uncommon approach to his common life groomed him for his uncommon call. In order to change the world Jesus had to say goodbye to his world. 1 Peter 1:20 (TLB) says, “God chose him for this purpose long before the world began.” Every ounce of suffering had been scripted. It just fell to him to play the part.

When you come up with a word for such love, give it to Christ. For the day he left Nazareth is the day he declared his devotion for you and me. But God, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. Perhaps we’re not so common after all!

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John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and lived among us.” The God of the universe left the glory of heaven and moved into the neighborhood. Our neighborhood! Why? Because He loves to be with the ones he loves.

There’s a remarkable story about a man injured in a fire. While attempting to save his parents, his face was burned and disfigured. He wouldn’t let anyone see him, including his wife. When she went to a plastic surgeon for help, he assured he could restore her husband’s face. But she wasn’t there to restore her husband’s face. She wanted her face disfigured so she could share in his pain.

It’s the way God feels about us. He took on our face, our disfigurement. He became like us to show us how far he will go to be with the ones he loves.

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Suppose that for most of your life, you’ve had a heart condition. Your activities have been restricted. But then comes the transplant. You have a new heart. Within you dwells a new power. You might say, “I can’t climb stairs, I’m too weak.” Does your choice negate the presence of a new heart? Dismiss the work of the surgeon? No, it would suggest you haven’t learned to trust your new power. At some point you gotta to try those stairs.

The same is true in our walk with Christ. You have a new heart. You are not who you used to be. As a result, you can do what you could not do – you can forgive, you can love, you can live! Put your new heart to the test. You will climb the stairs, not by your strength, but by his.

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My dog Molly eats scraps out of the trash, licking dirty plates in the dishwasher. What kind of behavior is that? Dog behavior. Molly’s problem isn’t a Molly problem—it’s a dog problem. So here’s my idea: I want to deposit in her a kernel of human character. As it grows, will she not change?

You think the plan is crazy? It probably is. Yet what I’d like to do with Molly, God does with us. He changes our nature from the inside out. He doesn’t send us to obedience school to learn new habits; he deposits a new heart. A newheart! Hisheart, within us.

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Satan can disturb us, but he cannot defeat us. The head of the serpent is crushed.

I saw a literal picture of this in a prairie ditch. A petroleum company was hiring strong backs and weak minds to lay a pipeline. Since I qualified, much of a high school summer was spent shoveling in a shoulder-high West Texas trough. One afternoon the digging machine dislodged more than dirt. “Snake!” shouted the foreman. We popped out of that hole faster than a jack-in-the-box. One worker launched his shovel and beheaded the rattler.

That scene is a parable of where we are in life. In Revelation 20 verse 2 (NCV), John calls Satan, “that old snake who is the devil.” Has he not been decapitated? Not with a shovel, but with a cross.

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A diving accident left Joni Eareckson paralyzed. Her handicap didn’t keep her from marrying Ken Tada, but it almost kept her from the joy of the wedding. While waiting to go down the aisle, she discovered across her beautiful wedding dress a big, black grease mark courtesy of her chair. The bouquet of daisies on her lap slid off center, her paralyzed hands unable to rearrange them. She felt far from a picture-perfect bride.

But as she looked down the aisle, she saw her groom. She says, “Grease stains? Flowers out of place? Who cares! The love in Ken’s eyes washed it all away. That’s what changed me.” She forgot about herself. Everything changes when you look at your groom!

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You don’t have to be weird to follow Jesus. You don’t have to stop liking your friends to follow him – just the opposite!

Sometime ago I was part of a foursome for golf that included two preachers, a church leader, and a guy who wasn’t a Christ follower. The thought of four hours with all of us didn’t appeal to him. His best friend, a Christ follower—and his boss—insisted, so he agreed. I’m happy to report that on the ninth hole he said, “I’m so glad you guys are normal.” I think he meant this: “I’m glad you didn’t get in my face or club me with a King James driver. Thanks for laughing at my jokes and telling a few yourself.”

We didn’t lower standards, but neither did we saddle a high horse. Discipleship is sometimes defined by being normal.

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Several years ago, I joined thousands who ran through the streets of San Antonio, raising money for breast cancer research. Most of us ran out of kindness, happy to log three miles and donate a few dollars to the cause. A few ran in memory of a loved one, others in honor of a cancer survivor. We ran for different reasons.

But no runner was more passionate than one I spotted. A bandanna covered her bald head, dark circles shadowed her eyes. She had cancer. While we ran out of kindness, she ran out of conviction. She knows how cancer victims feel. She’s been there.

So has Jesus. Whatever you’re facing, he knows how you feel. So go to him! He is able.

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Isaiah 53:2 describes Jesus as having “no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him.” Heads didn’t turn when Jesus passed.

Are your looks run-of-the-mill and are your ways simple? So were his. Questionable pedigree, simple home, an ordinary laborer with ordinary looks. Are you poor? Jesus knows how you feel. Ever feel taken advantage of? He understands the meaning of obscurity. Whatever you’re facing, he knows how you feel.

And he’s not ashamed of you. Hebrews 2:11 says, “Jesus, who makes people holy, and those who are made holy are from the same family. So he is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.” So go to him. After all, you’re part of the family!

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