In Death or In Life?

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ -Matthew 25:40 NKJV

On Sunday, people around the world celebrated the Resurrection Sunday. We celebrated that Jesus died and He rose from the dead. It is easy to celebrate Jesus in this light. He dies for the sins of the world so that we can all have eternal life. If this event truly means something to us, then the life of Jesus should as well.

Let me explain. Our lives should be a reflection of the one that Jesus Christ lived. Jesus did not always make the popular decision, but He always made the right one. Everyone did not like what He did, but He did please His Father. Everyone was not comfortable around him, but he did provide comfort to those who were hurting.

What we have done is pick and choose which version of Jesus we like rather than accepting who Jesus really was and what He really did. Jesus was not liked by everyone. Everyone did not listen to Him. Everyone did not want to follow Him. We are quick to say what Jesus doesn’t want us to do, but what about what he does?

We are quick to point out the sins of people because Jesus came to judge. Jesus came to judge, not us. Jesus addressed all sin, and we cannot pick and choose which ones we want to address because it fits our agenda. If we do, we become as guilty as the religious leaders that sent Jesus to the cross.

Let’s see what Jesus did do.

• Jesus talked with sinners so that they may come to know Him. He did not ignore them. He realized they needed to be saved.
• Jesus healed when others said this was not the time nor the place.
• Jesus spoke life into people that society had wrote off.
• Jesus addressed the wrongness and injustice that showed itself in front of Him without hesitation.
• Jesus met the physical and spiritual needs of people regardless of skin color or cultural identity.
• Jesus challenged people to go deeper and not become complacent.
• Jesus came to make a difference.

We celebrate the fact that He died, but what about the fact that He lived? He lived to show us how to live. He lived to show us how to treat one another. He lived to show us how to make a difference. Now we must ask ourselves a question. Does our life follow the example of Jesus? Are we impacting the lives of others by the life that we life? Would Jesus be pleased with the way that we treat Him by the way that we treat others?

The challenge that I issue to us today is model our lives after every aspect of the life of Jesus. Not just the parts that we do well, but all of it. Take a look at your life… you will see the impact of Jesus, but will you see Jesus in you?

Stay Blessed.

Growth is possible.
Growth is necessary.
Growth happens here.

Scripture Readings
Monday- Matthew 25:31-36
Tuesday- Philippians 2:1-18
Wednesday- Luke 19:1-10
Thursday- John 4:1-29
Friday- John 8:1-20
Saturday- John 9