Category: Relationship with Jesus

After the majority of those who followed Jesus left to return to their lives Jesus turned to the remaining 12 and simply asked them, “Do you also want to go away?”.  Simon Peter then answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”  Peter and the other 11 believed that their eternal future was dependant on Jesus and His words, and to go elsewhere held no real eternal future for them.  These men continued to follow Jesus not knowing what was in store for them, namely the death of Jesus and their hope of eternal life.  These men had come to know Jesus as the messiah, and with that they had tremendous hopes for a bright and eternal future.  There was nothing and no one else that they considered important enough to pull them away from Jesus.  Their life, identity, and future was now found in Him, and in Him alone.

What about you?  If Jesus were to ask you the same question He asked the 12 disciples, what would be your response?  Would you echo Peter’s response, or would you respond differently?  If you echoed Peter’s response, does your life echo that?  People look to a number of different sources for their identity and their future, oblivious or uncaring of an eternity that awaits them.  These sources present themselves as ones that are “in the know” when that is usually far from the truth.  What are these sources of such lies?  The first thing to remember is that it is anything, or anyone, that you listen to and live by more than Jesus and His word.  This could be a well-known celebrity, entertainer or politician.  It could be a group, an organization, or a material object of some sort like money.  It could even be an idealogy promoted by some that one listens to and embraces.  Well, each of these can be quite broad in scope, but what about those which are more personal.  On a personal level these sources could be anyone from an employer, a teacher, or even a pastor who does not follow or embrace Jesus and His teachings in their entirety.  It could get even more personal through a parent, siblings, a spouse or even ones children.  So, are you sticking with Jesus because He alone has the words of eternal life, or is your life more identified and directed by any one or more of these and other sources?

Jesus wants to speak words of eternal life to you.  There is no doubt about that.  The question is, are you listening, or are you even available for Him to speak life to you?  Just as Jesus spoke into the lives of the soon-to-be disciples to follow Him, Jesus is speaking into our lives to follow Him.  The disciples lives had their world turned upside down and inside out because they chose to follow Him, which had significant implications for not just themselves and their livelihood, but also for those close to them such as a spouse or children.  They didn’t know what was in store for them, but we know that they received far more in the end than whatever they lost in following Him.  They found out that the cost of following Him was great, but they also found out that the reward for following hard after Him till death was greater than the cost they paid in following him.  Jesus spoke words of eternal life into them and that is exactly what they received, but if we reject His words of eternal life, or treat and view them as anything but first and foremost in our lives, we will experiance eternal death in hell instead of eternal life in Heaven.
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So, my question to you is simple.  Are you embracing Jesus and His words as your source of eternal life?  Or, are you listening and embracing someone or something else first and foremost as your source of life and direction?  Remember, eternity and your eternal destination hangs in the balance for you.  Will it be for and with Jesus, or is anything or anyone else of greater importance and value to you and worth the gamble of missing eternity in Heaven with Jesus for?

Think about it.

So, the question to be asked is simply, “what would people put on your tombstone?”  Would they put something on it to remember the financial successes you’ve had, or the many accomplishments you’ve made, or the number of college degrees you’ve obtained?  Would they put something on it to remember the type of parent you were, how you related to others, or whether or not you were a person of integrity and character?  Would they remember you as a jovial and cheerful person, or as a hot tempered, rude individual?  Perhaps they would say something that would identify what made you “tick”, what the driving force in your life was, or what was most important to you?  There are countless things that could be put on a tombstone, but the question is asked what would be on your tombstone.

As you consider this question, when you think of what people may or may not say about you, is it what you would want them to say about you?  Would it be something that you would be proud of, or is it something you would be ashamed of?  While it is true that you can’t change your past, you can change the direction of your future, which means that you can change what people may say about you and how they will remember you.  When we think of Matthew in the Bible, we don’t remember him as the tax collector but as the disciple of Christ.  When we think of Paul we don’t remember him as the violent persecuter of the Christians but as one of the most powerful Apostles of the Christian faith and the one who wrote 2/3’s of the New Testament.  When we think of Moses we don’t remember him as an heir to the Egyptian throne but as the one who led the Israelites out of Egypt.  No matter what your past, if it is something that you are not proud of or don’t want to be remembered by, you have an opportunity from this day on to make the necessary changes to become the person you most want to be remembered by.  While there may always be some who will be determined to remember you in a light that is either not accurate, or is based on unresolved issues within themselves, or based on a perception of what they want to believe, you can resolve to live in such a way that the majority of people will remember you as you want to be remembered.

When I think of myself, even though I can think of a number of good things to be remembered by, the main thing I want to be remembered by is that I was someone who strived to be a true follower Christ.  How about you?  How do you want others to remember you after you cross over to the other side of eternity?  Think about it.

One of the biggest attention grabbers that pulls on a lot of people happened just last weekend.  I’ve seen how this pulls on people for years, and how it has even effected churches when either the leadership is pulled towards it, or when they cater to the people in their churches who are pulled by it.  It is something that pulls on people in all walks of life, across all levels of financial and material status, across all levels of educational and career accomplishments, and even across gender lines.  There have been some in recent years that have seen the startling parallels between the ancient Roman empire and the United States, both in their beginnings, their duration of existence, and in their fall.  No, the United States hasn’t fallen as the ancient Roman empire, but some of the signs of Rome’s demise can be seen even in our culture in this day.  One of the parallels between the two civilizations encompasses this big attention grabber I’m alluding to.  The Romans had their coliseums and their ‘games’, and we in America have our football and the Super Bowl.  In both cultures these things grew to be one of the biggest things they were identified by, things that became something that they could as a nation rally behind.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not opposed to football and the Super Bowl.  Football is my favorite sport, and I love to watch the Super Bowl, especially when my favorite team is playing in it.  That is not the problem.  The problem comes when people put a greater importance on these things than they do Christ and the things of God.  I can remember way back when I was in junior high how that some would be so focused on the game, especially the Super Bowl, that they would actually bring their radios or mini-tv sets to watch the game during church.  They went to church because they knew they were supposed to or were expected to be there, but their heart was not there.  Their heart was wherever the game was.  Over the years things have changed some.  It isn’t just a mans thing anymore, but it is also something that women get absorbed into.  Oh, they may not get into the game itself, they may get into the commercials, the food and fellowship, or even into the halftime show which has become less and less family friendly over the years, but nonetheless they are just as much pulled towards it as are the men.  In the days of the Roman empire, the women may not have gotten into the blood and violence of the ‘games’, but they were also drawn in some way to them.  Also, things have changed in that churches now plan and schedule around the Super Bowl, and in some cases will even cancel services because they either want to watch the Super Bowl themselves or they don’t see the value in it if the numbers in attendance are low because of it.

It’s sad when the Super Bowl or its festivities puts God on the shelf and takes the place of greatest honor on an individual basis, and even in the very churches that proclaim that Christ should be number one in a persons life.  Again, I’m not saying that football or the Super Bowl isn’t a good thing, but it is a bad thing when it takes precedence over Christ and His rightful place in our lives.

Even though the Super Bowl may be one of the biggest attention grabbers in our society, there are still countless things that can pull people to remove Christ from His rightful place in our lives, and each of them are potentially and equally destructive in light of eternity.  So, the question is asked, is there anything or anyone in your life that is jockeying for the supreme position in your life that is rightfully due God and the Creator of the ends of the universe, the Son of God, Jesus?  If so, you need to decide whether or not you want Him in that position, and if so you need to make decisions and choices that ensure He is, and remains, in that position.  What will it be for you????

Along those same lines I’ve had another thought.  Over the years, I’ve known people that get real serious about the pursuit of their education, their career, or even about different aspects of health and business.  I’ve even known people who are very serious for or against different causes, causes such as abortion, marriage, or even gay rights.  I’m not going to say that any of these things are bad, or that they are even good, but one thought keeps going through my mind.  What would happen if people invested the same energy and resources they spend for these things into their relationship with Christ and living for Him.  If we are spending more time, energy or resources into anything or anyone else than we are in our relationship with Jesus and living for Him, then we are missing it and are involved in idolatry as those things are taking precedence over Jesus.  Many people talk about how they haven’t committed murder, adultry or even theft, referring to the Ten Commandments, but they forget about the first and most important commandment.  Both in the list of the commandments and the two that Jesus mentioned, the first one was that we are to love God with all our heart, mind, strength and body, so if that is not the case then we are missing it.  We can rationalize and justify why we may put more energy into these other things than we do our own relationship with Christ and living for Him, but when it is all said and done those excuses will not hold any water.  I even have to remember to keep myself in check because sometimes I can get caught up more with my tinkering with computers than I do with Him, and that is wrong.  The excessive tinkering with computers can have a negative effect in other areas that I need to be mindful of, but if I can make sure to maintain Him as first and foremost in my life then the other areas will end up getting worked out.  I mention that to say that this is something that we all need to be mindful of as it is so easy to get caught up and distracted with others and other things.  We need to remember to make a conscious effort to keep Him first and foremost in our lives.  Our eternity depends on it, believe it or not.

Relationship with Jesus is the ‘missing link’.  There is nothing wrong with a list of do’s and don’ts as long as it is a result of our relationship with Jesus, not the basis of it by which we seek to claim his acceptance and approval.  There is nothing wrong with not living by a list of do’s and don’ts provided our life is based on an active relationship with Jesus and living to please Him in all our ways.