[The following devotional is a part of our 2015 Easter Season Devotional Book “Passion Road.” We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between February 18 – April 5, 2014.]
The High Priestly Prayer by Jonathan Holmes
Read: John 17
Chapter 17 of John is a beautiful picture into our Savior’s heart as He prays to the Father. In Jesus’ prayer we see that our fellowship as believers is spiritual, deep, real, and essential for life. The illustration that Jesus uses to demonstrate the beauty and depth of Christian community is the fellowship that He has with the Father. We are one like the Father, Spirit, and Son are one. Believers share a common life that is centered on our mediator Jesus Christ.
Christianity is not a private experience. Christian life is all about sharing in life together that is bound together by our relationship with Jesus. Our culture obviously doesn’t hold to these same ideals. American culture is built on an increasing desire for privacy and impersonal communication. Technology has only increased this trend. Our lives are hijacked daily by constant communication, social networks, and gaming. Through the overuse of technology we are given a self-centered opportunity to live in a world that we selectively download and respond to.
Our culture uses technology to allow us to control perceptions of our lives, see our value in likes on a photo or tweet, and to communicate when it’’s convenient. Christian community forces us to be open, see our value in our Savior, and to communicate even in hard conversations. The simple truth is that technology is convenient and Christian community must be worked for. If we value living life together as our Savior did, we have to work for true Christian community. In community we are able to fight against our desire to live in a world consumed with self and pursue a life that is lived with God, His people, and on His mission.
Questions:
- What are some rules that you could put place in your family to help you focus on community rather than technology?
- When is the last time you were at church or your small group and never looked at your phone once? See if you can do it just one time and reflect on what was different.
Prayers for Lent
- Thank God for a community where we can find encouragement, Truth, and love.
- Thank God for being the very thing that binds us all together.