Surrendered Obedience
“But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” –Acts 20:24 (NLT)
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“worth nothing to me”
Is my life worth nothing if I don’t share the good news of the gospel? I picture Paul on perilous boat journeys, disrupting social norms, religious expectations, and even governments with his outspoken, bold, and often long-winded messages. I confess that I don’t relate to this imagery.
As I write this, I am 32 weeks pregnant with our 3rd child, Lily. As many of you know, she has a heart condition that means she will die very shortly after she is born. My own heart is broken into a million pieces. And yet, I know this extraordinary grace of God that Paul expounds on. It’s given me the courage to carry Lily to full term even when most in our community would consider terminating the pregnancy. It’s given me the ability to love Lily with all I have, even though I will lose her. It’s rooted me in the strength and goodness of Jesus, whose own mother carried and bore him, knowing he would never truly be “hers.”
With all my being, I know that God is with me. And my life would truly mean nothing if I didn’t live out the gospel. This painful reality I find myself in would be empty, meaningless, and void of hope if it weren’t for the story of redemption that my life is intertwined with. To live in that, to tell of that, even when faced with grief unimaginable, is what anchors me to a Love and Grace that saves me again and again.
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As much as God longs for us to share the Gospel with others, He’s constantly sharing it with us. We are always being invited on a journey to discover more of him. From a place of surrendered obedience overflows an authentic living out and telling of the good news. As we experience the balm of Jesus in the cracks of our life, only then can we carry his presence into the cracks of life with others.
Join us as we reflect on the good news:
What about the good news has moved you to tie your worth to Jesus? Into surrendered obedience?
Spend a few minutes listening to God
Where has the good news actually changed your life?
Where is God sharing the good news with you today?
What more of himself is he revealing to you in this season of your life?
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Rachel and Thomas Kirven’s calling is to step into the cracks of life—with families, young adults, and leaders—loving people into loving Jesus. Thomas primarily serves through a gospel movement team that seeks to enable teams of Jesus followers to reach their cities. Rachel and Thomas began serving with Novo in 2011. With their 2 children, they live in Oxford, United Kingdom.
