Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly: A 7-Day Devotional by Pat BarrettSample

DAY 7: WITH YOU, GOD

So, what is the point of all this? 

Why act justly, love mercy and walk humbly? Is it just so we can say we were “good Christians” and pat ourselves on the backs? Of course not. We do these things because when we die, we wake up to God. We participate in the life-giving Kingdom that is emerging all around us. When we engage in these, we start to see what eternal life is about: communion with God that happens as we stay connected to Him. It’s like a vine and a branch (John 15), the life of God flowing in and through us. 

Jesus had a prayer for us. It’s one of those moments in scripture where you feel like you’re reading a story about someone and then the person in the story turns and looks directly at you. This is what He prayed:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:20-23

Our invitation is, and has always been, to walk with God. Like in the beginning. The Bible opens with the book of Genesis to a scene of God and people walking together in the garden. Through Christ, He has asked again if we would return to walk with Him. He gives us an invitation to unbroken communion with the One who loves us more than we could ever understand. That’s the point. Communion. Connection. Relationship. 

Today, my encouragement is simply this…walk with Him and experience the deep joy and peace of experiencing what you were created for.

Check out Pat Barrett's new worship album, "Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly" here: https://patbarrett.lnk.to/actjustlylovemercy!devo