Start being Jesus

The Apostle Paul’s words in 1st Corinthians 15:10 have been haunting me. Paul wrote, “His grace towards me was not in vain.”

Paul in his second letter to a young/middle aged preacher named Timothy, told him to think about the present and the future. One day we are all going to stand before the Lord (2nd Timothy 4:1-8). In other words, be a Boy Scout, be prepared, and let the idea of standing before Judge Jesus be the catalyst for your daily service.

I was leading a small group Bible study not too long ago and we were focused on John 14:12. In this passage Jesus told us, we would do what He did and even greater things. So the big ask has been, “What did Jesus do?” That study led me to Mark 6:56, “And wherever He came, in villages, cities or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored Him that they might touch even the fringe of His garment. And as many as touched it were made well.”

Do I leave the DNA of Jesus wherever I go? What do I bring to the party? Has God’s grace been wasted on me? What will Jesus say to me as I stand before Him?

I have a friend named James Davenport and James and I used to pray together every Monday morning at my house. James loves Jesus and I’m pretty sure Jesus likes James and the Bible tells us the prayers of a righteous man are effective so what I’m saying is these are the kind of people you want praying for you (James 5:16). James is old school (that’s a good thing) and the times that he would come over for dinner or if he would spend a holiday with our family, he never came empty handed. He always brought a gift of some sort. Here’s my point. Jesus does not come to your house, village or life without bringing something: His skill set, hope, healing, His power, or His plan and purpose for your life.

To keep this in the context of the small group Bible Study I was leading, what if we did what Jesus did? What if everywhere we went we were the fragrance of Christ. What if we always brought something: Our skill set, talents, help, healing, grace, mercy, forgiveness, kindness, encouragement, light or Good News. Someone smarter than me told me the other day, “We must stop doing stuff for Jesus and we must start being Jesus.”

I saw on the news last week that several Americans had gone to Poland in order to get into Ukraine. These guys are freedom fighters. They were outside of a train station looking, begging actually for a ride to the front line. They were asked what their biggest fear was. Their response was, “Not being able to get to the front line so they can fi g h t .”

Again, has grace been wasted on me? Am I on the front lines fighting the good fight of faith (1st Timothy 1:18)? Am I passionate about the mission and purpose of Christ?

He asked me to ask you that.