How Do You See Jesus?

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  I’m a very shy and introverted person by nature. I’m better when I’m among people that I know well. Many people have told me that their first impression of me is a negative one because they think I’m unfriendly. At least some of them like me better once they’ve gotten to know me!   We all tend to form opinions about people when we meet them for the first time. It’s just part of human nature. Often our first impression completely changes once we’ve gotten to know them.   When I was little, the first impression I had of Jesus was a sort-of-superman with a halo around his head, who went about teaching people and doing all sorts of miracles. Those impressions changed as I got older. I saw Jesus travelling through the land, teaching in very measured tones, being very laid-back and holy, not letting anything bother him, loving those around him in a very spiritual way. That vision carried over to how I related to him.   I was reading Luke’s Gospel the other da...
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Obedience

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We babysit our neighbors’ children once in a while. They’re good kids, although the youngest can be rambunctious at times. My wife, teacher that she is, uses her authoritative teacher voice to keep him in line. I’m not as good at getting obedience.

 

Jesus’ life is the ultimate example of obedience. Hebrews 5:8-9 says, “Although he [Jesus] was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him”. It seems a little jarring at first to think that Jesus had to learn something. We think about Jesus as the Son of God but, as a human, He had to learn things just as we do. This isn’t to say that Jesus was ever disobedient; rather, that He had to learn what it meant to be obedient. With His suffering and death looming before Him, Jesus was able to say, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). This acceptance of suffering and death made His obedience complete. “Being made perfect” refers to this completeness and not that Jesus wasn’t perfect before then.

 

It’s not obedience if we’re just doing whatever we want. Obedience is a function of agreeing with God that what He wants is what we want, even if our natural self resists it. It’s more than just following the Ten Commandments. It involves submitting our whole selves to His lordship. Just as Jesus was made perfect by His obedience, we too become more like the people God created us to be when we are obedient to His will.

 

Obedience tends to have a negative connotation but it shouldn’t for the Christian. If we believe that God’s love demands only the best for us, we should see obedience as a positive experience because it leads us to our best lives and our best selves. If we don’t see it that way, we may not trust God as much as we should.

 

The bigger problem for many people isn’t that they are actively disobedient, but that they don’t even begin to think about what God’s will is for them. We should be in the habit of bringing our lives before Him and asking for His help and guidance. Then, when He gives us a direction to go in, we should be willing to follow it.

 

On a human level, if you keep asking someone for advice and never taking it, at some point they’re going to stop giving it to you. If we keep ignoring what God is saying to us, we may find it harder and harder to hear His voice.

 

Jesus tells us, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (Luke 11:28). May we truly allow Him to be the Lord of our lives.

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The individual posts in this blog have been collected into a book, Reflections From the Basic Truths Blog.  It is available for free as an E-book through Barnes and Noble, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reflections-from-the-basic-truths-blog-james-yarmchuk/1147055811?ean=2940181202702, Apple Books, and multiple other book websites. It is available for a minimal charge on Amazon and can also be purchased as a paperback through them.


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