Daily Devotional For Friday, June 13, 2025
We are looking at what it means to follow Jesus. As we have already seen, we all should be in awe of the grace of God as revealed through Jesus Christ. God took the initiative to reach us through Christ. The Bible records this in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (NASB). Isaiah 52:14 says this: “Just as many were appalled at Him— His appearance was so disfigured that He did not look like a man, and His form was disfigured more than any other person” (EHV).
We have no equivalent today of being scourged with what was called a “Cat of Nine Tails.” This consisted of 39 leather straps that had bone, glass, and metal shards in them. The person being whipped was tied to a post with their clothing removed. A Roman soldier would swing and cast that “Cat of Nine Tails” at the person. The nine leather straps would wrap around that person’s body with the glass, bone and metal shards embedding themselves into the flesh of the person. Then the Roman soldier would yank with all his might. This pulled skin, muscle and tissue out as well as created unimaginable blood loss. One time seems horrible, but imagine 39 times of this. Rome had set a limit of 39 and there was a counter who kept score.
Why 39? Rome had learned that most people died after 40 and above strikes. If the Roman soldier went past 39, he was punished in the same way. This type of scourging also disfigured a person. Many times those leather straps wrapped around the face as well as the back and legs. If you remember the timeline, the Roman soldiers had already struck Jesus with their fists. Then when all of this was over, they forced a crown of thorns on His head and drove nails into His hands and feet for crucifixion.
Why am I sharing all of this? Because it is my experience that most Christians prefer to see Jesus with children, or healing lepers or walking on water – not the Jesus who is so disfigured that He is not even recognizable as being a man. Do you realize the weight of the One who endured all of this for us? To me, this means Jesus deserves more than our church attendance anc lackadaisical discipleship. He is worthy of our total abandonment and adoration as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Jesus is not asking us to come to Him; He is asking us to follow Him wherever He goes with us. Do you ever reflect on the fact that the One who left His throne and glory in heaven came to earth for us? God did not send another prophet to us or another preacher for us. He came Himself. God did this all due to His gracious love. In matters of love, no one else can express your love for another but you. Let me illustrate it this way. When I decided to pop the question to Audrey to marry me, I didn’t send my best friend, Ron Wade, to ask her. I asked her. Why? In the matters of love, the one who loves has to take the initiative. This is why Jesus, in His gracious love, took the initiative to come to us and live a sinless perfect life and then die for all the sins of the world for all of history.
I want to return to a theme I started above. When I ask people how they know they are saved, some say, “Well, I walked the aisle at church, talked to the pastor and received Christ.” Or they might say, “Well, I was at a youth retreat or at a youth conference and raised my hand to receive Christ.” Or they might say, “Well, during the invitation at church, I checked a box on a card that I was receiving Christ.” Now, please do not misunderstand me. I am in no way trying to negate or put doubt on those testimonies. But I want to be clear here. We are not saved because we decided to do something. We are saved because Jesus Christ, in His compassionate and gracious love, did something. We were spiritually dead, remember? Salvation from beginning to end is all the work of Christ. Yes, we have a choice in whether or not we will receive His grace, love and salvation. Just like Audrey had a choice to make in my marriage proposal. She could have said “NO” to my marriage proposal, but “Praise the Lord”, she said, “Yes!” It was her choice to receive or reject my love. We will never, ever fully understand the love of God as revealed through the crucified and resurrected Christ. Never!
Assignment: Take a moment to reflect on what Jesus Christ went through to save and redeem you. Is your gratitude just limited to church attendance? Is your discipleship just limited to a sermon in church? Considering all that Jesus went through to take the initiative to love you and redeem you, how should you be following Him, today?
Scripture Verse To Meditate On: Matthew 27:29-31, “They twisted some thorns into a crown, placed it on His head, and put a stick in His right hand. They knelt in front of Him and made fun of Him by saying, ‘Long live the king of the Jews!’ (30) After they had spit on Him, they took the stick and kept hitting Him on the head with it. (31) After the soldiers finished making fun of Jesus, they took off the cape and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him” (GWT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, Your love for humanity and me is something I will never grasp or understand. You, the sinless Lord, became sin so that I might become saved. Please forgive me for being so apathetic and lackadaisical at times with my own discipleship. As Matthew 27:29-31 states, after they mocked You saying to You, they said to You, 'Long live the King,’ knowing they were about to take You to be crucified. Jesus, thank You for taking the initiative to call and save me. I recommit my life to You to be a committed disciple. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly