Week 20 – May 11-17, 2025: A Distracted Disciple

This week’s daily readings:

May 11-17, 2025

This week’s devotional:

A Distracted Disciple

by Kim Loehr

Scripture: 

And [Jesus] said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 

— Luke 9:22-23 (NIV) 

Reflection:

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus begins explaining to his disciples that his journey toward Jerusalem would culminate in his death and resurrection. Since Jesus will not be with them long, he gives his disciples miraculous power and commissions them to teach, preach, and heal the sick. This assignment excites the disciples, but they stumble when they try to put Jesus’ commands into action. 

Later that week, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray. When they came down the mountain, they were met by a large crowd. A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son… A spirit seizes him and… scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.” Jesus addresses his disciples and says, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?”

I must say, I feel the rebuke that Jesus gave his disciples. As a follower of Christ, Jesus has directed me to “pray and not lose heart.” In addition, the Bible encourages believers to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Praying and reading the Bible doesn’t compare to the assignment the disciples were given; however, I have trouble disciplining myself to do these two simple things daily. I feel I must be unbelieving and perverse since I cannot demonstrate my love for Christ by doing these two simple things.

In Chapter 17 of the book of Matthew, Jesus tells the disciples that they could not cast out the demon from the boy because they had little faith, and that if they had faith even the size of a mustard seed, they could move mountains. Now, I know I have faith at least the size of a mustard seed, but I don’t seem to be able to pray and read my Bible daily, let alone remove any mountains from my life. I had to beg Holy Spirit to help me write this devotional. My spirit was willing, but the flesh absolutely would NOT sit down at the computer and produce anything!

With my distracted discipleship, I am constantly proving Jesus' warning in Luke 9:62 to be true in me: “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” I know I need Holy Spirit to put Christ in me if I’m going to try to do this thing undistracted. And for him to do that, I need to pray and read my Bible daily.

Luke 9:23 teaches the core principle of discipleship: denying oneself and taking up one’s cross daily to follow Jesus. This means prioritizing God and his will above personal desires and comforts and being willing to face sacrifice and opposition for the sake of Christ. It’s a commitment to following Jesus, even when it’s difficult. It is difficult for me to surrender my time and my lack of discipline to the Lord, but as a follower of Jesus, I need to try. I want to try. My heart’s desire is to persevere and remain hopeful and to pick myself up every day and try to accomplish my two small tasks: pray and read my Bible. If I am to contribute anything to God’s kingdom, it has to start here. 

Prayer:

Dear God, I’m so grateful you’ve shown me what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus. No one knows like me how crucial discipline is in following your Son. I really want to make Jesus the priority in my life! Know that I’m working on it with the help of your Holy Spirit. Guide me through my prayer and reading to the lessons I most need to learn. Please lend me your peace for those difficult times of distraction or opposition, when my cross is hardest to bear. I pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen