They might stop and turn their gaze to the skies and consider that maybe it is all real. Maybe what you've heard about Jesus being the answer and the way really is all truth.
Jesus, the pursuit of Your love, Your cross, Your ways is what we have been created for. Apart from you it is all meaningless. If this is all there is and at the end of it all whether in 5 years or 70 we just get put down in a grave then why try?
Why love? Why risk? Why believe in anything other than ourselves?
I cannot adequately express the worth and the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. He is the King of Kings, the Healer, the Lord over creation, the Redeemer, and the One who has died to set you free from the confines of yourself to live for His glory and renown in this world. It is His face I see on display as I reflect on the redemptive power of His love raising my life up and healing the lives of those who have turned to Him all around me.
I've been there. I have thought people followed Jesus because it was a crutch, something to cling to, and a nice additive to the "good life". How wrong I was.
Jesus, He is the One you've waited for your whole life. He is the One who will fill the gaping hole and the desire of your heart. Only Him.
You think you want an exciting life?
Try to living in a world that is a battle between the Kingdom of Light and Darkness. Place your trust in a God whose plan for you transcends anything you could plan on your own according to glory at work within you.
You want to help those around you?
Delve into the heart of Christ, the only One who can truly redeem, save, or rescue someone else from the darkness of this place. Knowing Him enables you to serve and help people in the most profound ways.
You want something to fulfill you?
Lift your face to the glory and lifter of your head, Jesus Christ, who blesses you with the fullness of His presence, His mercy, His healing, and His Spirit.
You want direction and guidance?
Seek the living God who hears you and will answer you. When you are encountered by the reality that He is alive I guarantee you won't want to flee from Him.
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and it is not just another day. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is an event that changed everything about our reality. Because of Jesus we are now blessed with the opportunity to choose life over death but that's just the thing... God loves us so deeply He has given us freedom and a choice. The choice to choose the Son He freely gave us that is the only One who can give us life.
Watching "The Passion of the Christ" yesterday I was struck by how deep the pain of regret is. Watching Judas betray Jesus with a kiss and then desperately try and take it all back by throwing the money back in the Pharisees' faces it stung.
Regardless of where you stand in your faith- you don't believe, don't care, don't see the importance of it all at the end of your life you will have to stand before the Father to testify about the life you lived in the time He gave you. You get one life, one shot, one try. That is it. No do overs.
I guarantee you looking in the fire of His gaze, you will want to take back every wasted moment. You will see the desperate and fiery love of God that pursued you your entire life but you were too busy or consumed with the "things" of this world to notice.
Entrusting your heart to Christ is difficult.
It is painful. People and this world resist you. You will face lies. You may have people walk out of your life or disappear...maybe they won't get it. But the thing is you will never regret a moment spent loving and pouring out your heart for Him. Nothing done in His name is ever in vain. Your reward is knowing Christ and living your life in love to honor the King.
Mark 14:3-9 reminds me that nothing is wasted. This woman poured her everything out upon Jesus and was mocked but He saw the worth. She recognized Him for who He was.
Right now, Jesus is asking you. Who do you say that He is? Is He who He said He is?
He is. I can testify to the fact that Jesus is alive and reigning now--He is truly alive. This changes absolutely everything. The life you desire is hidden within Christ and nowhere else will you find it.
May the grace of God draw you in to experience the beauty of His Kingdom, His lavished love, His adoption, His healing flood, and His resurrection power to awaken your heart to what you have been born to fulfill on this earth.
You were worth it for Him to lay His life down.
Jesus will always be worth your pursuit. Right now, He wants to know you, to speak truth over your life, and bring you into His presence. Saying yes to Him is saying yes to a God who has already said yes to you.
Worth it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUUmhnOPBdE How He Loves with Matt Chandler and John Piper.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joj2qEYa8VA Encounter Me by Citipointe Live.
