Weekly Devotions

Luke 9:51

Jesus was clear about his purpose and mission to be sin offering for all humanity. Whereas there are many good things he did to point persons toward the love of God, his ultimate purpose was to die in our stead. He who was rich became poor for us that by his poverty we might be made rich.

Luke records the determination of Jesus to move toward his destiny at Calvary with a visible look. Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem. The look that Luke records is a determination that could be seen by all of those who came in contact with Jesus.

Disciples, friends and foes could all clearly see the determination of Jesus to move in the direction of his destiny. Jesus would not allow himself to be side tracked by well-meaning disciples nor admiring crowds that wanted to hold onto him. He was determined to meet destiny with a cross maker.

Determination is the inner drive to keep going toward a goal, a direction, an achievement or the thing that has assigned value that one will not give up on. Determination is why slaves risked everything to follow the drinking gorge. Determination is what made domestics walk to work as opposed to riding a segregated Montgomery bus. Determination was why a group of believers gathered at 1020 Church Street and for 13 years labored with their hands to build their house of worship.

The Christian journey is one that calls for determination. The world will offer every possible lure to distract us, to cause us to become disillusion with the faith and draw us away from God.

The season of Lent--the 40 days to Easter--has been used for generations to remind us that a journey of faith demands determination. Lent invites us to faith not through the lens of celebration but through the lens of struggle, sacrifice, surrender and service. Lent removes us from the ideas of a God that exists solely to bless us. And brings us into contact with the God who invites us to journey with him and in so doing discover a world of what is possible when we are determined.

The song of the Civil Rights Movement heard most was not We Shall Overcome but I Ain’t Going Let Nothing Turn Me Around And March Up Freedom’s Way. May we mirror their determination.