Jesus sacrificed His life for us so that maybe we would have the opportunity to have right relationship with The Father. Our free will is the difference between a guarantee and a maybe.
When you look at Jesus’ sacrifice in that light… OH. DANG.
Well, for me it just makes me love Him even more. To be even more thankful. In America, I think we’ve become so accustomed to knowing the Gospel, that it ends up sounding more like a story than what actually happened.
- Jesus was ACTUALLY accused for our sins.
- Jesus was ACTUALLY prosecuted by people who had been praising him days before.
- Jesus was ACTUALLY hung on a cross, nailed to it, and mocked as He died. For us.
- So that we would be able to spend eternity with Him.
- So that we would WALK FREE on earth as we served Him.
That is everything. When I say everything, here is what I mean:
- He was crucified for our depression.
- He was crucified for our insecurity.
- He was crucified for our gossiping mouths.
- He was crucified for our unbelief.
- He was crucified for anything, yes anything that would cause us to be separated from God.
This does not mean we can do these things and say “well, I was given grace for this.” Or not seek the help we need because “well, Jesus understands.” It is the difference between being granted freedom and walking in that freedom. We have a choice in this. We can choose to give Him the very thing He paid for or hold on it. Either way, we were bought with a price.
Ephesians 1:7
7 Visualize this: His blood freely flowing down the cross, setting us free! We are forgiven for our sinful ways by the richness of His grace,
Let me put it this way. It’s like someone buying you the most expensive and extravagant thing you ever wanted and then just not going to claim it at the location it was purchased. We have to claim this grace and freedom and salvation by FAITH. Faith means letting your feelings follow your feet sometimes because you remember that your ability to live in the purpose God had in mind for you was expensive.
I hope this is making sense. We have the benefit of The Gospel being so available to us because it’s written down in this thing called the Bible.
But what about everyone who followed Him on earth? Can you imagine what they must have been thinking on Saturday after the resurrection? They were living The Gospel we get to hear on Youtube.
They stood between their greatest devastation and what they didn’t know was about to be the greatest miracle they had ever seen… and they had seen some miracles. Remember? They watched Jesus heal the sick, give the blind sight, and many more. John said that there were more miracles than any of the disciples recorded.
John 20:30-31
30 Jesus performed many other wondrous signs that are not written in this book. 31 These accounts are recorded so that you, too, might believe that Jesus is the Anointed, the Liberating King, the Son of God, because believing grants you the life He came to share.
What do we do when we are between the thing we never saw coming and the breakthrough that God already knew we were going to need?
- Are we so burnt by disappointment that we can’t receive the breakthrough?
- Maybe we go and seek advice from everyone else and fail to just sit.
- Do we even think about sitting and receiving?
I can tell you that I have had a hard time in past seasons just waiting on the breakthrough. I’ve made up the minds of the people around me before they could hurt me, when sometimes those were the people that God was trying to work though. I’ve set about trying to ‘fix’ situations myself so that I’m not even looking for the breakthrough. OR I have been discouraged by the smallest obstacle to my breakthrough that I think there’s not a breakthrough coming at all.
I don’t know what the disciples were doing on that Saturday, but today I am sitting and resting because I know what’s coming tomorrow. And even when I don’t know what’s going to happen next, I’ve learned that God is ALWAYS working, so I wait…
If you’re not sure that Jesus really loves you, listen to this:
Blessings,
Kelly
The Barefoot & Childless Podcast
Barefoot & Childless 