Prayer Practice
Breath Prayer – Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask God to fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the list of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear, etc. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin reading today’s Scripture.
DAILY READING
REFLECTION
by Kelsey Bacon
As we move into a new season as a church and begin our study of Luke, we are talking about encountering Jesus, about what it's like to experience Jesus, face to face, in the truth of who he is. This story is one of the most famous encounters with Jesus in the gospels, because it was the start of his discipleship ministry and it was so strikingly life-changing for the people involved.
I imagine that Simon Peter, James, and John didn't leave home that day expecting their lives to change. I imagine that they reluctantly headed to their boats at dusk, not looking forward to a long, sleepless night of failed attempts to feed their families. I imagine they were feeling hopeless, dejected, exhausted. And this is when they encountered Jesus. He walked into their lives, and gave them not only a new and much better job to do, but also a new place to belong. A place where their failures didn't matter anymore and where they had unending hope. Jesus changed their lives completely and forever in that one encounter, and he would continue to do so.
Have you ever had an encounter with Jesus that has changed your life? Maybe you have had many. Maybe the most memorable encounter was when you first accepted him as your savior, or maybe the most memorable one was farther down the road on your journey, at another pivotal turning point. Whatever ways you have encountered Jesus in your life, reflect on how your life changed from that moment on. Think about what Peter, James, and John's lives looked like before they met Jesus compared to after. How has your life changed since you encountered Jesus? How has your life changed since he changed you?
Some of these changes happen quickly, and some of them happen very slowly. Some of these changes are visible and some of them are not. For the disciples, Jesus asked them to drop everything and follow him. That was a huge change! Their entire life's purpose--their job, their family, their friends, their home, their community--changed. It's not that those things weren't important anymore, but that something else became more important. Something else, someone else, came and changed everything, put everything into perspective. And now their whole life's purpose was different.
When we follow Jesus, our purpose in life is him. It's to follow him, to love him, to be loved by him, and to glorify him. Everything else comes after that. So I want you to ponder two things today in reflecting on this story:
1. What does Jesus call you to leave behind to follow him? Are there things you're still holding on to?
2. What is one encounter with Jesus you've had in the last year and how has it changed you?
Jesus, we thank you that you came to earth to be with us, the fishermen, the tax collectors, the Pharisees, the sinners. We thank you that you came to save us all, to change us all. Please change me that I may be more like you, and help me to let go of the things that keep me from following you. Amen.
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