After the heartfelt release of Hope Is The Key last year, Chet Gladkowski is preparing to unveil his newest work. Below is a preview from his forthcoming book, SERVE LIFE—a powerful continuation of his message of purpose and faith.

When Jesus went to the cross, He did something silently remarkable. He didn’t send up fireworks or send out an email campaign to all His contacts. He didn’t blast the Romans or Jewish religious leaders on social media. He didn’t take out a full-page ad about how He was railroaded either.

I’ll tell you what He did. He stayed. Doesn’t sound all that impressive. Does it? Everyone was yelling and screaming at Him to stop the madness and pain. They couldn’t understand how someone as smart as Jesus couldn’t see the simple solution to all His problems by coming down from the cross[1].

But what did He do? He stayed. The easy and expedient thing would have been to show off, jump down from the cross, and take over the world. Instead, He stayed. He didn’t check out early. He endured the cross[2] His devotion to God the Father and us was so strong that he stayed till he could say, “It is finished[3].”

The question that comes to mind is how devoted are we to God’s steadfast purpose? Are we pushed around by every wind and wave, or are we holding onto Him and Him alone as we’re battered and bruised by this world?

Unfortunately, devotion can’t be seen or grow when life is easy. Devotion is a cruel taskmaster. It comes at the expense of effort and excruciating pain. Devotion only develops in the fires of daily life that pushes us to the limit. And beyond.

After knee replacement surgery, you don’t get better by just sitting around. It takes dedication, hard work, and plenty of 21^st century pain meds. After my knee replacement, I breezed through the two weeks of Physical Therapy at home. I was able to do everything asked of me without too much discomfort. After that, there were an additional four weeks at a local clinic. Again, everything went smoothly and without a lot of pain. That is, except for this one exercise.

The Active Assisted Knee Flexion[4] was a killer. It hurt so much that I cried, and I’m not the crying type. The searing pain was unbearable. In my head I knew that it wasn’t the metal or plastic knee itself, but all the work that the surgeon did to chop out my old knee and install a shiny new one.

When it was time to do this torture of an exercise, I picked out a table where I could turn and look out the window. Why? Not because the view of the strip mall parking lot was stunning. But because I needed to turn away and cry out to God while the tears went down my cheek.

So, the question is why in the world would I go back if it was really all that painful? That horrible? The answer can be found in and through devotion. I knew that the only way I was going to walk again without pain was by completing those exercises. Including the Active Assisted Knee Flexion.

Devotion isn’t all that popular of a word today. We all want quick solutions. We’re looking for the “low-hanging fruit” that’s easy to pick. But God’s more interested in developing deeper devotion in all of us. And that starts right where we are today.