Christian Faith - Part 2

So, here’s how I see it – a lot of people I talk with say that life has them feeling…

…tired
…weary
…hurt
…confused

Yet, Jesus said He came to give us life – real life – abundant life. He said His burden was light and that He came to give us rest. He’s called the Prince of Peace.

So, what’s the deal?

Could it be we’ve really lost sight of what matters most? Here’s what I see when I take the time to be honest with myself. I won’t say this is you – I may have never even met you – but I know me pretty well. As for me, I like what I like (profound, you’re thinking, but stick with me). Therefore, I typically do what I like to do. I go where I like to go. I eat what I like to eat. I act the way I like to act.

As you read that did any of you begin to count the “I”s? I focus most of my attention on ME. But that’s kinda ridiculous because I cannot promise myself life, or rest, or peace. If I could I’d have all that – but I can’t – hence I don’t have it – when I’m all about me.

How about you? If you had to account for everything you do, how much of what you do, say, think, etc. is about YOU and what you like?

Here’s the deal – if Jesus is the One who promised life and rest and peace (and many other great things) it only makes sense that if we want that in our lives we need to have Jesus in our lives. To have Jesus in our lives requires that we take the focus off of ourselves and put our focus on Him.

The 64 million dollar question – how do we do that – focus on Jesus?

This is the really unbelievable part – Jesus was happy to teach us how to focus on Him and how to receive these things in our lives – in fact, He wrote it all down for us. That book (actually group of books) we know as the Bible. The Bible isn’t here for us to try and make it all work on our own. The Bible is here for us to discover all that God has already done for us and how we can get credit for all of His work. Seems too good to be true – but why not check it out? What have you really got to lose…your weariness? Your hurt? Your confusion?

One final thought - Jesus’ teachings are the only “religious” teachings that show us that we do NOT have to earn what He has to offer. Every other world religion teaches you have to do something to earn God’s favor – talk about tiring, not to mention impossible. That’s why no other world religion will say you can know for sure that you have received God’s favor – tragic!

Here’s the difficult truth – we must swallow our pride (the thing inside us that says I have to earn it) and surrender to Jesus and then allow Him to transform us – and give us life, and rest, and peace.