Living Wholeheartedly for GodSample

DAY TWO – JESUS IS OUR EXAMPLE

If there is any life that you and I should follow as our example, it’s Jesus’s life. One of the reasons He became flesh and dwelt among us as a person was so He could understand what we go through and show us how to live. 

Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus understands completely what it is to be human.

So what did Jesus do in His everyday life and ministry, or when He was facing hard things? He got completely honest with His Father and consecrated Himself. He prayed a prayer of consecration and submission to the will of God. He put God’s will before His own. 

For example, in the Garden of Gethsemane, as His final hours of life drew near, He was sorrowful and heavy (see Matthew. 26:38; Mark 14:34). Even though He knew that He came to pay the ultimate price and die for the sins of the world, He was, after all, human. He battled the temptation to draw back from what was horrible and repulsive to His flesh.

On that terrible night before His crucifixion He prayed to God: “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). He sweat drops of blood as He wrestled. It wasn’t easy for Him to fulfill His Father’s plan.

Jesus knew the outcome of redemption would be the salvation of mankind, so for the joy set before Him, He surrendered to His Father’s will (see Hebrews 12:2). That night Jesus set an example for us. He consecrated Himself to do the will of God, regardless of His personal feelings or desires. He ultimately wanted to do what the Father wanted Him to do. 

If Jesus needed to consecrate Himself to do the will of God, then we need to consecrate ourselves too! We all want God’s best for our lives, but we qualify for His best when we choose to obey Him and submit our wills to His.