In the parlance of where I come from, the Master is so cool, you can’t help but take Him into your heart.
I may be speaking out of turn here with some of the meanest of spirits in this world, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they hold that same notion.
Jesus came onto the scene, noised all around as the Messiah, the Savior of the world – the Son of God.
And most all who took that in, looked for Him to be some sort of a fierce weapons-wielding man killer.
They expected Him to take charge of the planet by sheer brute force.
But Jesus didn’t kill anybody. He didn’t take prisoners. He enslaved no man.
He just won hearts – and continues to win them – through love and compassion; meekness and respect; gentleness and kindness.
And in putting all of that into motion, He gave over His own physical life to the cruelest of assaults to give all of us salvation.
Jesus is no stranger – Jesus is my brother; Jesus is my best friend.
So on this first day of the week when we all come together to worship our Father and to acknowledge our Savior’s great sacrifice, I ask myself what kind of brother and best friend have I been to Jesus?
As usual, I come up woefully short – I am, by far, not like Jesus.
He wants me to be more like Him and in my own flawed way, I try.
But of course, as we all are, I am saddled with this inherited weak flesh that keeps me limited.
We all take great comfort and encouragement in knowing that Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit always understand this and always remain patient.
Still, no matter what, we, as recipients of our best friend’s supernaturally selfless act, must never, can never forget what Jesus did on our behalf.
He silently suffered as His murderers beat Him, scourged Him and humiliated Him.
He endured, without a word, as they nailed Him to a heavy wooden cross that they forced Him to carry up a rugged mountainside.
And He asked our Father to forgive His murderers just before He died on that cross, only to later rise again, a victor over Satan and death.
Jesus said it Himself: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
In truth, the parlance of where I come from doesn’t even begin to appropriately characterize my best friend.
He’s way, way more than cool. He’s much, much more than heart-winning.
Jesus is everything.
“In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4).
Ozzie Roberts
Recent Comments