After a year of vowing that I didn’t know why anybody needed one, I recently got a FitBit. Little did I know that it would take approximately four-ish hours for me to become completely dialed in to all the FitBit features. Suddenly I could check my heart rate, I could see how many steps I’d taken, I could find out how many calories I’d burned, and if I wore the FitBit when I slept, I could analyze my sleeping habits. It’s been an onslaught of daily information I didn’t even know I wanted, and I am surprisingly crazy about the turquoise band that is continually wrapped around my wrist. In a weird way, it’s almost like an ever-present accountability partner.
Well. Yesterday I was looking at my FitBit app to see how well I’d slept the night before (answer: not very) when the strangest thought occurred to me: wouldn’t it be awesome if we had some variation of a FitBit for our relationships with the Lord? I don’t know—maybe we’d call it a Heavenly Helper (H2 for short)—and after wearing it all day (maybe around our heads like a halo because YES), we’d open the app before bed to see how well we followed Jesus during our waking hours. Can you even imagine?
- You were 67 percent holy today.
- Your thoughts were pure for 4 hours and 32 minutes.
- You fought temptation 72 times. Good job!
On one hand, it might be nice to have an objective assessment of how we’re walking out our faith. But the reality, of course, is that it would never work because we’d get awfully self-righteous if those numbers got high enough—or we’d be completely discouraged that we weren’t seeing the results we’d hoped for.
Faith was never meant to be a checklist.
By God’s design, there’s not a single one of us who can overcome our sinfulness on our own. If we could, we’d have no need for a Savior—we’d just BRING IT with the holy awesome every single day. So if we want to continue growing in love and compassion and godliness, we really only have one surefire method (and no, it isn’t our sassy H2 halo).
We have to abide.
The word abide is translated from the Greek word menó, which means “to stay, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for).”4 We stay with Him, and He stays with us. The Bible gives us the image of a vine and branches and reminds us that we cannot bear fruit apart from Him; we must be constantly connected (John 15:1–17). This can only happen through study of the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. You and I can do a lot, but we can’t generate holiness (or bear fruit, for that matter). To put it in modern terminology, Jesus is our ride or die. He is our constant Companion, our Counselor, and our Savior King.
We might not be able to wear Him on our wrists, but He’s in our hearts and leading us exactly where we want and need to be.
1. Do you ever have a “scorecard” mentality about your faith? Maybe you want to follow all the rules and get some gold stars? Why is that such a comfortable place for many of us?
2. Has there ever been a time in your life when you battled self-righteousness? Or maybe a time when you’ve been on the receiving end of someone else’s moral superiority? What was that like?
3. According to John 15:5, what can you do apart from Jesus?
4. When you think of an earthly life that bears great fruit, what person comes to mind? Why? Do you see evidence that he or she has abided in Jesus?
Today’s Prayer
4. “Menó” Blue Letter Bible, accessed March 10, 2017, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3306&t=ESV.