Focus

Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.

---

Read

Romans 6:1b-11 (NRSV)

Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

---

Reflect

A day in our life can seem so mundane—surely nothing ratings-worthy were a reality TV crew to follow us around. What would the cameras capture? What would our reality show reveal about us?

We might have a good episode or two, but our daily itinerary can be repetitive. We wake, we work, we worry, we sleep…. Our routine can sometimes take on a life of its own, leaving us feeling like rooks and pawns being moved through its endless game. The layers of commitments and worries can become so cumbersome that we stagger. Even the things that once brought us joy can feel stressful as they become just “one more thing” on our to-do list. We lose focus. We criticize ourselves. We envy others who seem to have it easy. We feel we have less and less to give. Weeks and even months can go by before we realize we’ve lost our way. By then the network has canceled our series and moved on to something less predictable.

Most of us do not want a reality show. We just want to live a life of purpose. Paul’s message to the Romans in chapter 6 reads like a wake-up call. He reminded them that they no longer needed to feel like slaves to sin or misery because Christ had freed them! For followers of Christ today, this message is no less true.

It can be a little intimidating to embrace change, to embrace freedom, but there is no better time to reorganize our hearts and lives. Let our old ways be buried, and our new selves be reborn. It may not make a good reality show, but rediscovering our passion for Jesus makes real life more meaningful.

---

Pray

God, we confess we have fallen into the trap of putting what we feel we must do ahead of what you’d have us do. Help us to shed the skin of our former selves so we may walk in newness of life and the example of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Go with God.