He stands open and relaxed with a hand outstretched toward me. The hand he has before me is rough, calloused, as if he has been working hard labor since his youth. It has a wound that I can see through, that has not healed, and yet is not actively bleeding. His hand is cupped upwards toward me as if to communicate his invitation to come with him. I look to his face. He is unshaven, but patches of his small beard are missing from his face. His eyes are gentle, but they are also piercing. It’s as if he can see everything I am thinking. He can see the trepidation and timidity in me. He sees the fear of the unknown in my mind. He sees all that led me to this very position. He sees the good, the bad, and the ugly, and yet he still reaches out to me. Does he know what a wretch I am? Does he know all the thoughts that I have had about so many? Does he see how much I have lied to people or how many times I turned a blind eye to my neighbor in need? Does he really want me to come to him? Why? I am not worthy to even look at, much less hold out his hand in a beckoning fashion to me. I am unworthy to even be in his presence. And yet, he approached me. Again, why?
Jesus is more.
Coming to Jesus is more than just acknowledging him with my mouth. Sure, He is the Son of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He came from His throne in heaven to our location where we dwell eeking out an existence for how ever long we live. We take care of what we are supposed to do to survive, and then we die. That is just life, right? But He came to us, while we were not doing what we were supposed to be doing. We were stepping on others to get ahead. But that is just what one has to do to survive, right? The survival of the fittest? And yet this is not what we were commanded to do in the beginning. We were told to multiply and fill the earth. We were to live in community and help one another. But it got out of control. We began to do things our way because we thought that we know better than the Creator of the Universe and everything in it. We thought that for sure we know how to live our own lives better than the One who designed our very being. So Jesus came to do what we could not do on our own. He filled the gap. OK. I understand that is what happened. So that is what I share with others. I tell others what has been taught to me from the Scriptures. But is that enough? No. Jesus is more.
Coming to Jesus is more than just believing in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. I know in my mind that God raised Jesus from the dead because that is what the Scriptures tell me, and I believe that the Scriptures are true. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of the redemption of God’s people. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. All of these things I know. But has that changed the way that I feel? I feel like it’s all mechanics: do one thing which leads to doing another and so fulfill the law. Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly. But I can’t fulfill the law perfectly. I have already messed up so many times, and I cannot go back in time to fix it. We live in three and a half dimensions that I know of: length, width, height, and time going forward (not backward). I know in my heart that Jesus rose from the dead, but how? I was not there. When this event happened so many years ago, I did not witness it, nor did anyone I know witness it. The only thing that I can do to fact check this is to look at the Scriptures and other historical accounts of the goings on around that time in that location. But there is something in me that attests to this account as accurate, something that I cannot see or touch. But I can hear and feel. Is that enough? No. Jesus is more.
Coming to Jesus is professing with your mouth and believing in your heart, but also accepting His invitation to come to Him. You can say all the words you want without believing them. You can believe all the things you want without doing them. But you have to do something about it, or what good is it. It is like looking at a wrapped gift of the best thing ever sitting in front of you. What good is it if you don’t receive it and do something with it? Salvation is right in front of you. It is real, and it is the best thing ever in the history of everything we want or need. It is yours. Just accept it, and you, too, will find out that He is more. He is more than you could possibly think of or ask for. He fulfills every need and want, even the needs and wants that you had no idea that you needed or wanted.
Jesus is more.
For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." (Romans 10: 5-11, ESV)
Gotta go fill up my cup…..
Coffee with Candee 