WHAT DO I DO WITH JESUS?

Okay…I’ve got Jesus. You told me that I needed him, so now I have Him.

         I’ve…

                  “been saved.”

                  “crossed the line of faith.”

                  “become a Christian.”

                  “become a believer.”

                  “been born again.”

But…WHAT DO I DO WITH HIM?

Have you ever caught a firefly?

When I was a kid, I loved catching fireflies. When it turned dark, I would run inside to find the perfect jar to capture these creatures of delight.  As I would step back into the yard, I would watch for the flicker of light. They would dance around the darkness of the yard enticing me to follow them.  These tiny creatures were captivating, emitting just enough flashes of light calling a little girl to run after them.  As I would get close, they would turn their light off and disappear again into the darkness.  But it didn’t take long before I realized that the summer sky was filled with these intriguing creatures.  Chasing down one firefly after the other allowed me to fill my jar with intermittent flashes of light. Once my jar was filled, I would admire my treasures.  Eventually, I learned the importance of poking holes in the lid to allow these creatures to breathe.  It would only extend their life span by a millisecond, but I would do anything to capture their light for just a moment longer. But ultimately, I had a jar of bugs that were going to die in less than a 24 hour period. As a child, I didn’t know what to do with my jar of treasures.

We so often do the same with Jesus. We have Him trapped in our jar, but we don’t know what to do with Him. We make this decision to be a follower of Christ and in that moment, we see the beauty of this choice. 

But once we come to the point of surrender and find the joy of being a follower of Jesus, we hold up our jar filled with light and put it on the shelf for admiration. If we don’t do something soon, that light will dull.

…so…WHAT DO I DO WITH JESUS?

Back in July, I was sitting on the porch of our Airbnb.  As I sat there contemplating life,  I could see people in the parking lot below getting ready for the day. As I was watched, this question crossed my mind.  If I were to have a conversation with them about spiritual things and I were to tell them of their need for Jesus, what would I tell them? What would be the reason I would give them as to why they needed Jesus?

Sitting on the porch, I thought about the question…what do I do with Jesus?

                           …why do I have Jesus?

I have been told throughout my life what a life with Jesus should look like. But the messages that I heard only pertained to what was on the outside. I was told to love Jesus with my actions, but no one told me that it was supposed to love Jesus with my heart.

I was given a set of rules to obey…don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t dance…don’t, don’t don’t!

I focused on the list of “don’ts” making sure I followed every one.  I adopted the mindset that my mission in life was to share with others this list and to make sure that they followed them.  I was rewarded when I “took a stand for Christ” by not doing these things and letting the world know why I didn’t do them…”I am a Christian, so I don’t participate in these things.”

I was told how to follow Jesus but I never remember being told WHY!

As I sang in the pews at church, we would sing songs like “Amazing Grace.” Beautiful song, one of my favorites, but I was never taught what grace looked like by the people around me.  If I didn’t follow the list, there was no grace.

How about the song “What a Friend We Have In Jesus?” Another great one! But my friendship with Jesus was a conditional friendship based on my behavior. I guarantee that during my teenage years, Jesus and I were not that great of friends. Every time I took a drink of alcohol or went too far with a boy, my friendship with Jesus was on the line because no one taught me the God of the “Amazing Grace.” We only sang about it on Sunday morning.

Unfortunately, I have carried this mindset well into my adult years. As I reached adulthood, I needed God’s amazing grace and His friendship more than ever. My life came crashing down because I could no longer follow all of the rules that measured my relationship with Jesus. I needed Him, but I didn’t know how to find Him. I didn’t understand that no matter what my behavior was, I always had His grace, His friendship. Jesus equaled shame for me and I didn’t want that. I didn’t want their “Jesus”.

But, I have Jesus…

         What do I do with Him?

As I sat on that porch, I wrote down three things that came to life for me that day. Three things I could tell those people who were in that parking lot that morning getting ready for the Fourth of July. “Sir, this is what you would do with Jesus!”

Stay tuned for next weeks blog as I will share with you what I have learned…