In Pursuit of JesusSample

Absolutely Everything

A high school basketball team faced a challenge because of the religious convictions of its star player. The accomplished athlete played every game, usually leading his team to victory—except on Friday nights. A devout Jew, the young man stayed at home because Friday evening is the beginning of the Sabbath. And his team would typically lose. “His absence on the Sabbath,” one teammate wrote, “was a witness that something else had hold of his time, something even more important than basketball. He was different. He had . . . a calling, a commitment.”

As believers in Jesus, we have a calling that should impact every decision of our lives. Our decisions communicate what we value. There’s no portion of our life, however small, that we should hold back from God. We surrender everything, absolutely everything, to Jesus. “Whatever you do or say,” Paul says, “do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17). In whatever we do—in every relationship, every business decision, every choice about our future, every passion—we do it all in Jesus’ name, surrendering each and every piece of us to Christ’s authority. It’s through these everyday details that we “set [our] sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits” (v. 1).

Devotion to Jesus will require us to make some hard sacrifices. Let’s not hold back. Let’s give Him everything! —Winn Collier

What part of my life have I thought too small for God to care about? How does it change my perspective to think that He wants even the small bits?

God, I’ve thought I could keep parts of my life to myself. But You want absolutely everything. Help me give it to You. All of me.