Romans 5:6-8
Christ
arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait
for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death
when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves
ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what
to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying
for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us
to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by
offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever
to him.
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.
Yesterday while I was working out in
the pool, a mother arrived with two toddlers. The oldest was about 2½,
and I am guessing his little sister was just past one. Both children
were wearing “puddle jumpers” – a type of flotation device that secures
around the middle of the body and has additional flotation bands for
each arm. Our kids have them, and they work great!
The older
brother got right into the water and began paddling around. Soon he got
out and talked with his mother and baby sister, and then he moved to
the edge of the pool and positioned himself to jump back into the
water. Except he didn’t jump. He counted…”1…2…” His mother
counted…”1…2…3…JUMP!” I watched this little guy as he tried so hard to
make the leap. He wanted to so badly, but there was a part of him that
just wasn’t ready. He even trembled a little. And there was no one in
the water to catch him. I was positioned quite a distance away, and his
mom and sister were sitting on the pool deck.
After a few
seconds, the child did jump. And everyone applauded. Subsequently, he
jumped in several times…demonstrating a little fear and trepidation each
time. But with every successive leap, he went a little farther a
little sooner – and made a bigger splash.
As I read this passage
today, I thought of the little boy. Whether we will admit it or not,
some of us have made up our minds to jump fully into a life with Christ –
but something holds us back. Let’s be honest…a lot of times, our sins
are fun – or feel pretty good! It’s tough to make that final leap and
give it all up – even to the One who gave up EVERYTHING for us. For
whatever reason, we are quite often simply “not ready” – or “not ready
enough”!
It is indeed a great thing that Jesus didn’t wait on
us to make up our minds…that He didn’t say, “When Debbie…(or you…or that
other guy) decides that she/he is ready to go all in for Me and
surrender fully from sin, I will be ready to allow the soldiers to nail
me to a cross.” Jesus knew that this would never happen. He knows how
weak we humans are. But the bigger thing is that our salvation is not
based on when, where and how we are ready to live for Jesus. He has always been ready to live – and die - for us!
This
is what makes Salvation in Jesus Christ so special and amazing…that He
has been ready to sacrifice so much for us whether we were ready to live
for Him and serve Him or not. Because you see, we do have a choice…and
sadly, there will be some who are never ready. I cannot understand
this…and you probably can’t either. We must do all we can to
demonstrate how glorious a life in Christ is…how amazing it is to love
and serve a Risen Savior…how He makes every aspect of our lives better
and more hopeful. We must give others a reason to choose Jesus by
living in a way that causes them to say, “I want what he/she has!”
I
completely identify with the toddler learning to jump. There are a lot
of things in this big ole world that can be pretty scary! And fully
surrendering your life to Christ Jesus can be one of them. But oh, the
rewards are so amazing! There may not be visible or audible applause
and cheering – but I assure you that there is some clapping going on in
heaven. And as we learn to give God control and walk in His ways
instead of our own, the “jumps” get easier…and the “splashes” get
bigger!
My question for you today is…”Have you let go of the edge
and ‘jumped in’ with Jesus?” Whether you are “ready” or not…the time
to take this leap is now! Don’t look back…just jump! Jesus will be
waiting to catch you.
©2015 Debbie Robus
