Our walk with Jesus must not be so focused on ministry that we forget that the greatest part of being a Christian is knowing Christ! But what a lesson this remains to be for us. We work so hard making money for our family that in the end, we don't have time being with our family. We work so hard on preparing a teaching lesson that we forget our own personal need to be personally enriched by God's Word.

The sabbath was designed so that we would not be ruled by our tasks. Our relationship with God was to take priority over our works. God wants us to enjoy things. More importantly, He wants us to enjoy being with Him.

We can so easily stress reading the Bible, studying the Bible, memorizing the Bible, that we forget the real intent is to get caught up in the truths of the scripture so that we adore our Lord. I remember I used to ask people whether they had devotions or not. By devotions I meant that they had a great time with the Lord in His Word and prayer. But now I realize that many people thought that I was asking whether they had read or prayed. They had not connected 'having devotions' with meeting our Lord. The real importance is not the activities but the actual meeting with the Lord. This doesn't mean we can do without prayer and meditation. God has ordained the use of these things in meeting Him. However, the means is not the end.

Below is a story of a person named Mary who beautifully showed the importance of devotion over mere religious duties.

Mary was so appreciative of Jesus that she took a most precious, if not the most precious item that she possessed and poured it over Jesus. The event signaled an overwhelming spirit of thankfulness and joy in Mary's heart to know Jesus' blessings in her life. I am sure she thought of her brother Lazarus' resurrection, but we know from another account that her vibrant devotion and love for Him was evident even before that epochal event.

After pondering this story, my heart was moved to give my Lord whatever He wanted in my life. I was thinking of the most valuable treasure I had. My money - not much. My van? My house? My family? My heart? Actually, I had in my past life given these things one by one to the Lord. All that I have and am, including my life, reputation, wife, children, wealth, possessions, – I have given them all to Him. In a quiet sense of joy, I again dedicated the most precious thing to Him again – my heart. He is my all in all. I have nothing that is mine. All is His.

Abiding means to spend time with Jesus. This is not just ministry time. Jesus wants to be alone with me. I want to be alone with Him. I need to be deliberate about this. Mary and the others were just loving the quiet time with Jesus enjoying His presence. Only those loving His presence were there. Not long afterwards, He would be heading down the valley and ascending Jerusalem to die on the cross rejected by all.

Abiding with Jesus will cost us our most treasured items. For Mary, this was her costly perfume. For me, it meant my life and loved ones. I remember once about 7 years ago when God asked for my most precious loved ones. It was odd how He did this.

I was in the shower early one Sunday morning getting ready for church. No one else was up. I had a lot of pain in my chest and could not breathe. I quickly got out of the shower and went to my study to pray. I realized that it might be the end of my life. I could have died. In an intensive time of prayer kneeling on the floor with the Lord, I entrusted my family and ministry to the Lord. It was hard to say a possible good bye to my wife and children, but in so doing, I gave them up to the Lord. They in a sense were no longer mine but the Lord's. I was ready to go with Him. As it happened, I went to the emergency room, and they could not find out any real problem. A spray of nitro glycerin took that subsided pain away. My time now is reclaimed by God's grace. I have given my treasured ones to Him.

Abiding in Christ is costly. Love is costly. Love means a willingness to use all that we have to pursue the needs of another. The vial of perfume seemed like a strange demand, but it stood for what was most supreme in her heart. With the perfume in hand, she could at anytime sell it and find sufficient funds to help her in any emergency. With the bottle emptied, though, her safety net was gone. The grandeur of having a powerful and mystic scent in her possession no longer enchanted her. Jesus was hers. He was real. He belonged to her, and she belonged to Him. Next