Hello! 

After some vacation time, The Up Devotional is back. Before I begin, let me first say welcome to our new subscribers on email, social media and on the podcast! 

Let’s start.

My family is quite particular about the movies we watch. As you probably already know, there’s a lot of junk out there. But even when movies go out of bounds, you can sometimes learn lessons about faith and life if you’re paying attention. 

We watched a Marvel movie called ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier.’ During one of the scenes, a character named Falcon describes what he does. Pointing to Captain America, he explains: “I do what he does, but slower.”

At that point in the movie, one of my children turned to me and said: “That’s like us following Jesus. We do what he does, but slower.”

Great thought!

What I like that about that observation is that (a) it’s true, and (b) it encourages us forward in Jesus’ footsteps while acknowledging that we definitely aren’t him!

In 1 John 2:6, the apostle says: “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” Definitely. But we are also sinners (Romans 3:23) who continually need the help of a God whose mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

As you head toward September, perhaps you feel a bit slow in the spiritual sense. So just ensure you’re headed in the right direction. It’s about progress not perfection.

As my child said: “That’s like us following Jesus. We do what he does, but slower.”

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Notes:

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.