For many years now, my favorite devotional has been Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest. Chambers has the most unnerving ability to shred my soul with his criticisms of my too-often lukewarm faith, then to offer me the direction and hope I so badly need to fire up my soul for Christ. 

Today, I'd like to offer these words from the January 1 entry, titled "Let Us Keep to the Point," based on Philippians 1:20: "My eager desire and hope being that I may never feel ashamed, but that now as ever I may do honour to Christ in my own person by fearless courage."

We shall all feel very much ashamed if we do not yield to Jesus on the point He has asked us to yield to Him. Paul says -- "My determination is to be my utmost for His Highest." To get there is a question of will, not of debate nor of reasoning, but a surrender of will, an absolute and irrevocable surrender on that point. An overweening consideration of ourselves is the thing that keeps us from that decision, though we put it that we are considering others. When we consider what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God He does not know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point; He does know. Shut out every other consideration and keep yourself before God for this one thing only -- My Utmost for His Highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and for Him alone.