Serving the Living Lord, not a System
Daily Scripture
Matthew 7:28-29
28 When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were amazed at his teaching 29 because he was teaching them like someone with authority and not like their legal experts.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
These verses weren’t a pointless shift from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Matthew at once told two stories showing Jesus’ authority in action: healing a man with a serious skin disease, then answering a Roman centurion’s request to heal a valued servant. Scholar Craig Keener noted, “The centurion understands how authority works: just as soldiers obey the centurion because he is backed by the empire’s authority, everything will obey Jesus because he is backed by God’s authority (Matthew 9:6, 8; 28:18).” * Jesus claimed the authority to interpret and even reshape Israel’s most sacred traditions.
- The Sermon on the Mount grew from Jesus’ divine authority, not from any human tradition or organization. Scholar Michael Green saw the radical contrast: “Religion, if conceived as a human attempt to become acceptable to God by whatever system of beliefs and practice, is a beggar’s refuge. It will not keep out the wind and the hail. What Jesus offers is totally different. It begins not from our reaching up, but from God’s reaching down.” ** How did Matthew show that it doesn’t make sense to say, “I follow Jesus, but I reject this or that part of the Sermon on the Mount”?
- Green continued, “Christian ethics is inextricably tied to Christian beginnings. You cannot have the fruit of righteousness without the root of relationship with the Righteous One.” *** That’s why love for your pastor, church, or denomination must grow naturally out of your steady trust in Jesus as your living Savior and guide in life—not the other way around. How do you keep your relationship with Jesus central, so that all religious practices serve that relationship rather than replacing it?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, keep me from trying to reduce you to a system I’ve figured out and can control. Instead, be my living Lord and guide. Let your direct teaching reshape my life. Amen.
GPS Insights
Lauren Cook
Lauren Cook, who serves as Director of Online Engagement & Entry Points at Resurrection, wrote today’s Insight. She is a self-proclaimed foodie, a bookworm, and is always planning her next trip. She has the sweetest (and sassiest) daughter, Carolina Rae, a rockstar husband, Austin, and a cutie pup named Thunder. She loves connecting with others so let her know the best place you've ever eaten, best book you've ever read, or best place you've ever been!
I have a confession: I am a total creature of habit.
I wake up at the exact same time every day. My workout routine repeats itself into eternity. I eat the same breakfast and the same lunch, day in and day out. The only reason my dinner has any variety is because I feed two other humans who, thankfully, do not share my psychological need for absolute monotony.
Highlighters? Love them. Spreadsheets? Obsessed. My closet is sorted by clothing type and color.
If you aren’t backing away slowly yet, let me tell you what this is really about: I am a control enthusiast.
I don’t just love spreadsheets for the sake of spreadsheets; I love them because they give me a sense of mastery over my universe.
And for a long time, I tried to apply that exact same control to my faith.
- Daily time with God? CHECK!
- Weekend worship? CHECK!
- Volunteering and serving others? CHECK!
But all of this began to beg the question: Where do I checkmark my relationship with Jesus? Where is my heart in that neat and tidy list? Where have I left space for… anything real?
If you’re someone who is naturally spontaneous, fun, and messy, you might be rolling your eyes right now. But I don’t think I’m alone in this. Deep down, most of us crave a checklist. We want a clear, step-by-step manual on how to be a “good Christian,” how to hear God perfectly, and how to master discipleship.
Why? Because a checklist centers the control on us. Our efforts, our tasks, our lists.
And that’s exactly why it doesn’t work. As the theologian Michael Green once noted, no amount of human effort—no amount of “reaching up”—will ever allow us to grasp God.
Faith isn’t a spreadsheet. We have to wade into the murky, beautiful unknown. We have to step into the holy mystery of an ongoing adventure with God—falling in love with Him daily, letting Him reach down to grab us, and trusting a love that defies our logic.
When we let go of the clipboard, everything changes. We dive into Scripture out of genuine hunger, not obligation. Worship becomes an overflow of love, and serving others becomes second nature.
Our faith isn’t built on concrete things or perfect schedules. It’s a sacred, intimate, untamed journey to know, love, and serve God—and to invite others to walk the wild path right alongside us.
© 2026 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Craig Keener, comment on Matthew 8:9 in NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (p. 8817). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
** Michael Green, The Message of Matthew. Inter-Varsity Press, 2000, p. 110.
*** Ibid., p. 111.
