Matthew 19:16
Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I’ll admit that I am sometimes a slow reader… and it’s taken me a LONG time to read through Anne Graham Lotz’ book - Just Give Me Jesus. Maybe that’s by God’s design, because each time I pick it up and read a few pages, I gain a new insight. And today was no exception.
As I read this passage from Matthew, I asked God, “Where is the message of compassion in these words?” Then I opened Lotz’ book and read about how Jesus was tried by the Romans, who were so preoccupied and legalistic that they totally neglected moral law. In other words, like the man who asked Jesus what good thing he had to do to get into heaven, they over looked the truths that He was presenting…His spiritual message. And in turn, we often overlook the more primary focus of Christian discipleship.
See, it’s not about what we do, per se… or certainly how good we are. As Lotz points out, these are secondary issues that we have chosen to make the priority. So as she puts it, we gripe about our health while we fail to maintain a proper diet and exercise. We yell at our kids or our spouse and don’t see that we are YELLING! We focus on the money and raising funds for redecorating the church – or even to support a mission project… but we fail to reach out to those smack dab in our midst who need to hear about Jesus or experience His love, grace and mercy through our kindness. We worry about how our church is growing distant and disinterested as a collective body or denomination…while we don’t even seem to see the needs of those who live a few doors down the street.
In a nutshell, we can’t see the forest for the trees! We’re so focused on being good enough for God that we know we’ll “make it” to Heaven, and we totally miss our reason for being on this earth in the first place. If it’s all about being good and going to heaven, then God just as well snatch us on up there the minute we commit our hearts to Jesus. For many of us, this is the sad truth… because we’re wasting the time we have been given to serve as Christ’s disciples here and now!
I’m sure I am stepping on some toes here… and mine are just a bit sore, as well. But maybe we need a “wake-up call” of sorts! Maybe we need to be asking some questions of Jesus, too… like “Where can I better serve?” or “Who needs me today?” …or even, “What do You want me to do?”. When we start to focus on the needs of Jesus… and those of others He wishes us to reach…our priorities begin to line up with His. We can never be “good enough” for eternal life… this is God’s ultimate gift to us. He gave us Jesus… Who is all we ever need. And out of our sheer love and gratitude, we should stand ready to share Him with others… however He deems necessary.
What questions do you need to ask today? Where have you clouded the issue and gotten lost in the trees on your way to the forest? Will this be the day you begin to figure out what –and who - really matter?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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