Deciding to follow Jesus is a universe-shaking move. It changes the course of eternity. It changes your life, both in this world and the next. It should change the lives of those who come into contact with you as the Holy Spirit renews your mind and creates a new heart within you; as Jesus increases in you and his love and compassion shine through to affect the way you interact with the rest of the world.
Sadly, our nearest and dearest don’t always see any change. Yes, your eternal destiny is with God as soon as you commit yourself to Jesus as your Lord and Saviour but the way you live your life is sometimes pretty much the same as before.
It would be so much easier if people were made perfect as soon as they started to follow Jesus. However, you just have to look at any Christian you know (or at yourself) to realise that this doesn’t happen. We have a lifetime of learning and following Jesus ahead of us and sometimes it feels as if one temptation or bad habit is only just conquered for another to rear its ugly head.
“He must increase but I must decrease,” said John the Baptist (John 3:30). As followers of Jesus, that should be our aim too. Our old, sinful, selfish, rebellious selves must decrease until what people see in us, our lives and attitudes, is a clear reflection of Jesus.
Nobody achieves perfection this side of heaven but with God’s help we can get closer until one day we look back at the people we used to be and can’t recognise ourselves.
That’s easier said than done, especially as many congregations concentrate less on discipling individuals to be like Jesus in all aspects of life and more on numbers, money or a superficial image.
Jesus calls us deeper.
It doesn’t matter what you look like, what clothes you wear, what education you’ve had or job you do. It doesn't even matter if you can sing in tune. He wants you. Yourself.
He’ll gladly accept the person you are and transform you, if you allow him, into the person you were born to be.
How many of us feel that we’re not who we were meant to be?
We get by. We might even be successful, at the top of our field, renowned or earning lots of money. We could be dissatisfied, thinking, “I could do much more than this” but we don’t know how to bridge the gap between how we want others to see us, the person we know we are and who we suspect we’re meant to be.
God knows who and what each of us is meant to be.
We fill the gap with things that decay – money, power, food, lust, drugs, busyness – anything that anaesthetises and stops us having to think. Yet, at those times in the night when our minds are free, we know that we’re hiding from the big questions.
Who am I?
Why am I where I am?
How do I make my life worthwhile?
What happens after death?
Even if you don’t think about these things now, at some point these questions are going to crash into your consciousness, hopefully before it’s too late for your answers to make a difference.
Jesus is the answer to the big questions of life.
He won’t force you to acknowledge that, but every living soul should be aware that their answer to the questions, “Who is Jesus? Who am I?” will determine what happens to them after death and how they live.
Jesus stands at the door and knocks. He doesn’t break it down. He will respect the decision you make during your life as to whether he is Lord or not, but it’s a decision that everyone has to make and it has life-changing consequences.
How can you tell if someone has acknowledged Jesus as Lord? How should your life be lived under his Lordship. It means nothing to say that you belong to someone as Lord but then continue to live your life in exactly the same way as before, taking no notice of anything your “Lord” says. Perhaps you’re honestly considering your response to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:15) and you want to know something of the cost before you commit to him. Jesus does turn things upside down. He “answers our questions, but also questions our answers” (Rowan Williams). He takes us out of our “natural” responses of self-preservation, anger, selfishness and fear and enables us to live life to the full (John 10:10). Following him can be a bit like riding a rollercoaster – exhilarating, scary, exciting, sometimes calm – but, despite the best efforts of some people to make Christianity tedious, the real Jesus is never boring – all you have to do is to accept his invitation to “Come” to find out.
