Day 35 – God-as-Job – Expressions from Summerside Community Church

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading

Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

Devotional – Get Closer

He was paid to watch Jesus die. Standing at his post, the centurion’s day began rather ordinary. Death was his norm. He stood close enough to the cross to hear the gasps for air and the exchanges between Jesus and the criminals, Jesus and his mother, Jesus, and his Father.

Not unmoved as he had been trained to be, this death shook the centurion, an executioner turned believer. As Jesus released his final breath the centurion breathed in eternal life.

“This man truly was the Son of God.”

Sometimes being close to Jesus is a job whether or not we’re being paid. But “proximity does not automate intimacy.” As soon as God becomes a job, a relationship becomes a religion.

Question to Consider

Are there areas of service to God that have become a duty rather than a service of love? Is there a role you need to relinquish or, at the very least, realign your heart in?

Prayer

Lord, show me areas in my life where what I do is done out of obligation rather than love. Remind me often that I am your child before anything else and that you desire my heart over my sacrifice. Fill me with your love so that it overflows into my service.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

The 40 days of decrease blogs have been inspired by the book “40 Days of Decrease” by Alicia Britt Chole.