7 Amazing Ways Jesus Defines Our Journeys
He was the change he wanted to see.
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Seeing is believing. We’ve all heard it a million times, and how true it is.
In biblical history, there’s a moment when Jesus looks at a man who has followed the commandments since youth but has questions. Before Jesus replies, He feels compassion and loves the man. Jesus loves him without equivocation and advises him to surrender his possessions and follow him. Although the man protests, one can’t help but wonder what he felt because he saw Jesus believe in him. He saw Jesus love him.
Fast forward two thousand years, and if we look, we can feel Jesus looking at us. It’s our most possible Holy moment. If we bring that goodness inside, our vision clears to brilliance, and we can live in glory.
Lovingly, Jesus gave us everything good and just, but often life feels so busy and full of commitments that we forget Jesus is there every step of the way. Our forgetting is wrong thinking. He didn’t intend for us to worry. Jesus led our ancestors with mercy and wants us to remember how He showed them to live and prosper. Here are seven ways to live without losing sight of the one who loves us the most.
Jesus calls us.
Seaside in Galilee, Jesus sees two fishermen throwing their nets into the water. He hasn’t a clue as to who they are, let alone that they’re brothers, but that doesn’t matter. In His eyes, they’re perfect. Immediately He calls out to them, and when they come to him, He learns their names, Simon and Andrew. Although it’s beyond their present reach, Jesus offers them a tremendous gift when He says, “Follow me.” Jesus loves them at once.
Quick as a flash, we can emulate Andrew and Simon because Jesus calls us twenty-four-seven. His greeting beckons us without stopping. Can you hear him?
When we listen to Jesus and follow him, we come to life in an immeasurable and mysterious present. It only takes a good pair of sandals and trust.
Jesus shows us the path.
Wherever you go, there you are, but wherever you go with Jesus, you go with audacious peace because Jesus points to a source of love that’s about freedom. That’s courageous because it’s Jesus pointing forward.
Think how He walks for God in the Bible. At the age of 30, after already wowing and puzzling religious teachers with his beliefs during his youth, Jesus travels with an outspoken voice for a higher love that contradicts commonly shared, established beliefs for how and whom to worship. He freely espouses and tells of his Father who wants our salvation, and in doing so, challenges oppression. Some people fear for him, and others hate him, but always, after He speaks, people follow him, many walking with adoration and faith. He says, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Ephesians 5 begins by telling us we are to be imitators of Christ. Loving as Jesus loves and living because of his sacrifice, we transcend illusion.
Jesus teaches us how to share.
One of the gifts from the Father is creativity. Another is sharing. Being a carpenter and seeking out and having good relationships with others, Jesus glorifies God. Just as He shares his woodworking talent, he shares his love for others by inviting them to have a place at his table. Everyone is welcome. He sees others as the creations they are and welcomes all despite their social conflicts, differences, and judgments. In the gospel of Luke, verse 44, Jesus says to the Pharisee Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.” According to Jesus, loving little is unloving. Jesus makes tables and chairs for a livelihood, and he observes and understands with compassion, grace, and mercy for his growing mission. Through his actions and beliefs, Jesus is saying, we’re created for fruitful living and extraordinary love with our hearts and souls. Both are made for sharing.
Jesus gives us passion.
Although Jesus is equal to God, he surrenders and humbles himself as a servant. He will do anything for God. When he teaches, he sees people transform. He witnesses Godly faith. Jesus’ willingness to receive and give the Word builds a house of worship within everyone who believes. By his example, Jesus illustrates passion. He turns water into wine; food multiplies, and a storm at sea is calmed.
For love’s sake, for our sake, he encourages open-mindedness. He points to children as leaders. One time when the disciples eat from the wheat fields on the Sabbath, He reinterprets the holy day, upsetting some teachers but freeing his followers from judgment and persecution.
Jesus helps everyone see they’re made in God’s image, our likeness of mighty qualities of character. Jesus puts this wisdom out into the world, where it becomes our insight.
In the same direction lie two destinations, honor and authenticity. We see them, just ahead, with Jesus. Passion means honoring our authenticity. Our willingness to receive reflects our rebirth. Like Jesus, our eyes are on God. We are brave disciples.
Jesus aligns our generosity of spirit.
Telling everyone of God’s love for them, Jesus creates a solid foundation in the form of generosity. According to him, we each have one-of-a-kind gifts, and for our divine selves to flourish, we prosper by giving everything we have to others.
He’s saying: you are generosity, you are causes for passion. At the Last Supper, Jesus kneels and washes his disciples’ feet. For his compassion, we come to believe such powerful love can exist. It is up to us to be generous and discover it for ourselves.
Jesus grants our renewal.
John the Baptist speaks of Jesus before He enters the picture. Having lived for some time in the wilderness teaching, John has many disciples who hang on his words. He says to them, “Get ready. Someone is coming, and you will love him beyond your wildest dreams.” And then, Jesus does come into their circle, where they forgive transgressions with repentance and baptism. Jesus’ moment dawns. John renews him through baptism, and, as if He is emanating light, the disciples perk up in the unfolding brilliance of Jesus. The disciples believe, and like their faith, our good thought can become Godly actions. Jesus tells them of wonder, and his teachings echo God’s words, “With lovingkindness, I draw you.”
Jesus has our back.
Looking out from the mountain, Jesus sees the crowds gathered together. He reveals fantastical truths within the precepts of the Kingdom. He speaks with tough love about a tougher love made for compassion and strength, rules for living that sound impossible but aren’t. All they require is surrender, hope, and faith.
Something Jesus reveals is the power of changing one’s heart to the truth. What He’s saying is that when we abandon worldly desire, we enter into a covenant of God-sanctioned beliefs. In this way and the other beatitudes, Jesus foretells that our love is worth the price of what’s to come. But for now, He’s still on the mountain where He sees everyone. Jesus stands above but is right beside them. He eliminates the price on their backs and protects them so they can love and be loved as God intended.
Jesus, our rabbi, friend, and companion, who has been here all along, was here before anything. To see him in the present requires only faith. His origin made him complete. His love saves us. With integrity, He points over here and over there in limitless directions. With him, we ourselves are spiritual journeys. As we become more and more like Jesus, getting as close as humankind can, maybe we will see as He does.
Whatever stage we find ourselves at in life, Jesus truly sees us: confident in his promise of life; thankful for God; made in an image of his likeness, with bodies as temples; humble in the service for others, and finding hope everywhere we look. We turn around and see him.
